Maggie Cheung | |||||||||||||||
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張曼玉 | |||||||||||||||
Born | Cheung Man-yuk Margaret 20 September 1964 | ||||||||||||||
Alma mater | St. Paul's Primary Catholic School, Happy Valley St Edmund's School, Canterbury University of Edinburgh (Honorary Ph.D) | ||||||||||||||
Occupation | Actress | ||||||||||||||
Years active | 1984–2004 2009–2013 | ||||||||||||||
Spouse | |||||||||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 張曼玉 | ||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 张曼玉 | ||||||||||||||
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Margaret Cheung Man-yuk (Chinese: 張曼玉; pinyin: Zhāng Mànyù; born 20 September 1964) is a former Hong Kong actress. Raised in Hong Kong and Britain, she started her career after placing second in 1983's Miss Hong Kong Pageant. She achieved critical success in the late 1980s and into the early 2000s, before taking a break from acting following her last starring role in 2004. She rarely makes public appearances except for fashion events and award ceremonies.
Cheung has won numerous accolades at home and abroad for her acting. She has won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress 5 times in the span of 11 years from 1990 to 2001, and holds the record for most wins in that category. She also holds the record for most wins for the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress in Taiwan, having won 4 times. In the West, she was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Actress at Berlin International Film Festival in 1992 and Best Actress at Cannes Film Festival in 2004. In 2004, she became the first Asian actress to be nominated for the French César Award for Best Actress.
Her most acclaimed performances include As Tears Go By, Center Stage, Green Snake, Irma Vep, Comrades: Almost a Love Story, The Soong Sisters, Hero and Clean. The Wong Kar-wai–directed In the Mood for Love (2000), in which she plays a cheongsam-wearing character opposite male lead Tony Leung, is a classic in both the film and fashion worlds.