I'm too stunned for words. Wish this had been an April Fools Joke
Actor Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing, one of Asia's best-loved Cantonese pop singers, jumped to his death in Hong Kong on Tuesday, a police source said.
Cheung, 46, jumped from the landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel in the Central business district early in the evening and left a suicide note, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
A police spokeswoman said a 46-year-old man with the surname Cheung plunged to his death from the hotel in the early evening, but declined to reveal the full name.
"The man was certified dead at hospital. His name is Cheung 'X' Wing and was aged 46. He left a suicide letter," she said but declined to comment.
Cheung, who acted in the pathbreaking 1993 film "Farewell My Concubine," was noted as one of the few Asian male stars to play openly gay characters, his biography on the Web site of booksellers Barnes and Noble says.
His acting career took off in 1986 when he starred opposite Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat in John Woo's popular gangster movie "A Better Tomorrow."
The biography says Cheung, whose father was once a tailor to Hollywood actor William Holden, studied at Britain's Leeds University and launched his career as a pop singer by winning a prize in a Hong Kong music contest.
Cheung was one of Hong Kong's best-known evergreen singers and his love songs are well known among Chinese communities all over the world.
Posted by ronn at April 2, 2003 11:20 AM