Dicky Cheung Wai-kin (born 8 February 1965) is a Hong Kong actor and
singer.
Career He entered show business in the early 1980s, signing a contract
with television station TVB. He won the 3rd annual New Talent Singing
Awards in 1984. Up until the mid 90's, Dicky struggled for many years
working as a low-paid actor, singer, and appeared occasionally in
films. It wasn't until his brilliant portrayal of the Monkey King
character in the 1996 TVB adaptation of the classical Chinese novel
Journey to the West that his popularity began to skyrocket. A sequel to
the TV adaptation was planned, but due to a contract dispute with TVB,
Cheung left before production began. Benny Chan Ho Man took over the
role of the Monkey King in the sequel. Cheung then went abroad to
Taiwan to continue his career. He has appeared in many Taiwanese
television productions since then. In 1999, TVB's rival station ATV
acquired the Hong Kong broadcasting rights to his Taiwanese television
series Young Hero Fong Sai Yuk. Cheung played Fong Sai Yuk, a character
also portrayed by Jet Li in his film Fong Sai Yuk. The show was an
instant hit in Hong Kong, and managed to gain much higher ratings than
TVB's own television series. The TVB series showing at that time was
Dragon Love, starring Benny Chan Ho Man, who replaced Cheung in the
Journey to the West sequel, Journey to the West II.
Personal life Dicky Cheung is married to Zhang Qian who had a
miscarriage in Spring of 2008. He said that he would like to eventually
leave the acting business and seriously consider doing something more
meaningful in life such as volunteering to give back to the society.
Prior to his current marriage, he was in a brief relationship with
actresses Elvina Kong and Jessica Hsuan .
Notable roles Cheung has starred in many Hong Kong-Taiwanese television
productions, enjoying both success in Taiwan as well as Hong Kong. The
three most notable are: Journey to the West Dicky's most notable
performance that made him famous was his portrayal of the Monkey King
in the 1996 TVB adaptation of the classic Chinese tale Journey to the
West. As well as being the lead character, Dicky also sang the theme
tune as well as many other songs throughout the series. This series was
very popular during its run on TVB Jade, it was even dubbed in English
and broadcast on TVB Pearl, the only TVB series to receive this
treatment to date. Dicky was also due to play the Monkey King in the
sequel. However, due to a dispute regarding the contract, the role was
given to Benny Chan Ho Man. Duke of Mount Deer 2000 Yet another TV
adaptation of Louis Cha's Wuxia novel The Deer and the Cauldron. Cheung
played the anti-hero Wai Siu-Bo, a character previously portrayed by
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Stephen Chow and Jordan Chan in many television
and film adaptations. The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra In 2001,
Andy Lau's NMG production company produced another television
adaptation of Journey to the West. Cheung was given a chance to once
again portray the role that made him a household name. The series was
broadcast in 2002 on TVB. Although it received high ratings, many felt
it was not as good as the 1996 version.
