Dicky Cheung

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Dicky Cheung Wai Kin (Chinese Traditional: 張衛健, Chinese Simplified: 张卫健) is primarily a Hong Kong television actor and born on February 8,1965.

He entered showbizz in the early 80's, signing a contract with television station TVB. He was struggling for many years working as a low-paid actor, singer, and appearing occasionally in films.

It was not 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. He played the role so beautifully and experienced that everyone enjoyed it. A sequel to the TV adaptation was planned, but due to a contract dispute with TVB, Dicky left before production began. Benny Chan Ho Man took over the role of the Monkey King in the sequel. Dicky then went abroad to Taiwan to continue his career.

He appeared in many Taiwanese television productions since then, but none were groundbreaking. In 1999, TVB's rival station ATV acquired the Hong Kong broadcasting rights to his Taiwanese television series Young Hero Fong Sai Yuk. Dicky portrayed Fong Sai Yuk, a character also portrayed by Jet Li in his film Fong Sai Yuk. To everyone's surprise, the show was an instant hit in Hong Kong, and managed to gain much higher ratings than TVB's own television series. Ironically enough, the TVB series showing at that time was Dragon Love, starring Benny Chan Ho Man, who replaced Dicky in the Journey To The West sequel.

[edit] Notable Roles

Since then, Dicky starred in many Hong Kong-Taiwanese television productions, enjoying both success in Taiwan as well as Hong Kong. The two most notable are:

Duke of Mount Deer 2000

Yet another TV adaptation of Jin Yong's popular novel The Deer and the Cauldron. Dicky portrayed 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. Dicky was given a chance to once again portray the role that made him a household name. The series was broadcasted in 2002 on TVB. Although it received high ratings, many felt it was not as good as the 1996 version.