Teresa Cheung Siu-wai () (born June 10, 1963) is a Canadian

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

and producer.

Early life

Born in Hong Kong to parents of

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

nese descent, Cheung appeared in her first advertisement at the age of three. She was born in a scholarly family in Hong Kong in 1963, her original name was Zhang Rongfang (章蓉舫). Rongfang is the nickname of her grandfather, and later this household name is actually Teresa's nickname. Her grandfather was a senior official in the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

, while her father immigrated to Canada and founded Zhang Jianguo, the first Chinese radio station in Canada. Teresa's mother, Zhou Wanjun (周婉筠) was born in a famous family and brought a maidservant when she got married. Her father, Francis Cheung (章建国) was born in

Shaoxing Shaoxing (; ) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as (''Yuè'') from the area's former inhabitant ...

, who founded Canadian Chinese TV, passed away at the age of 85. After he immigrated to Canada that year, he found that many elderly people were bored at home, so he decided to create a Chinese TV. But it is not easy to establish a Chinese TV station in Canada. At that time, he ran around, contacted local celebrities, and established a Chinese advisory group. When the Canadian Video Committee (CRTC) held a hearing, he was also awarded the President of the Bar Association and members of the Federal Parliament. Teresa attended primary and secondary school at

Maryknoll Convent School Maryknoll Convent School (MCS, ) is a Roman Catholic girls' school with primary and secondary sections at Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded by the American Maryknoll Sisters in Hong Kong in 1925 at Kowloon Tsai, Hong Kong. MCS is a pre ...

, Hong Kong. After relocating to Canada at age 15 with her family, she studied at the University of Toronto, majoring in Fine Arts History and

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

. She moved to Los Angeles in 2006.

Career

Despite having no prior experience as a professional actor, Cheung was given a leading role in the 2004 film '' Colour Blossoms''. Writer/director

Yonfan Yonfan (born 14 October 1947) is a Hong Kong film director and photographer. Biography He was born in Wuhan, Hubei, Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China. As the Yang family emigrated from mainland China, they lived first in Hong Kong ...

stated that she was his inspiration for the film. Cheung received a number of awards and nominations for her role, only narrowly missing out on a Best Actress Award to Zhang Ziyi from the

Hong Kong Film Critics Society The Hong Kong Film Critics Society (HKFCS; Traditional Chinese: 香港電影評論學會), founded in 1995, is the peak organization of film critics and professionals in Hong Kong. It is also a member of FIPRESCI The International Federation of ...

. In 2005, Cheung signed with the

China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...

(CCTV), becoming the first female, Hong Kong-based actress to join the network artist management. Diamond Trade Center invited Cheung to the Oscars 2006 Diamond Aquifer Suite Event at the

Soho House Soho House is a museum run by Birmingham Museums Trust, celebrating Matthew Boulton's life, his partnership with James Watt, his membership of the Lunar Society of Birmingham and his contribution to the Midlands Enlightenment and the Ind ...

in Los Angeles, making her the first Asian actress ever invited. Cheung is credited as an

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

on Oliver Stone's film, '' W.'', and has a cameo role as the

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

"Miss China."

Personal life

In 1988, Cheung married Hong Kong pop star and actor Kenny Bee. The couple divorced in 1997.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheung, Teresa Hong Kong film actresses Hong Kong emigrants to Canada Living people University of Toronto alumni 1963 births