Mary Cheung

Mary Cheung
張瑪莉
Born	(1952-08-11) August 11, 1952 (age 72) British Hong Kong
Other names	Mary Pandora Cheung
Alma mater	Sacred Heart Canossian Commercial School Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Occupation(s)	image consultant, host, painter, photographer, former actress
Years active	1975–present
Employer	Mary Cheung & Associates (International) Ltd. (founder)
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Spouses	Peter Lee ​ ​ (m. 1980;div. 1995)​ John Yu ​ ​ (m. 2012)​
Children	2
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	張瑪莉
Simplified Chinese	张玛莉
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhāng Mǎlì Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Zoeng1 Maa5 Lei6
Website	www.marycheung.com

Mary Cheung (born 11 August 1952) is a former Miss Hong Kong winner (1975), image consultant, host, painter, photographer and retired actress. She is the founder of the image consultancy and media-relations training company Mary Cheung & Associates and was widely regarded as one of the most successful women in Hong Kong.

Background

Born in Hong Kong in 1952, at the age of six, Cheung lost the care of her birth parents due to a divorce and became an orphan. She was left in the streets as a vagrant to fend for herself for two years, before she was discovered and referred to the Social Welfare Department, and was taken to a charity organization Po Leung Kuk for adoption. ^{[1] [2]} She attend the Kiangsu-Chekiang College and upon graduation she studied business at the Sacred Heart Canossian Commercial School. She once attempted to become an air hostess.

Cheung competed in the 1975 Miss Hong Kong Beauty Pageant and emerged as a Champion. She entered CTV as an assistant editor and made her first acting appearance in the 1976 television series Star (明星). She left CTV prior to its bankruptcy and signed on as a RTV actress.

In 1980, Cheung was married to Dr Peter Lee (李忠琛), a meteorologist of the Royal Observatory Hong Kong and the elder brother of the late Bruce Lee. Following which, Cheung retired from the entertainment industry and took up management courses at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She gave birth to a son Lee Wai-ho (李偉豪) in 1981 and a daughter Lee Yuk-yee (李珏頤) in 1984. She was baptised as a Protestant in 1985.

In 1994, Cheung became a host of her own radio talk show Merry Mary (百分百張瑪莉) under the radio network Metro Info of the Metro Broadcast Corporation. ^[3]

In 1995, Cheung and Lee divorced and her two children left with their father. ^{[4] [5]} Later on the same year, Cheung founded an image consultancy and media-relations training company Mary Cheung & Associates (International) Ltd. and serves as its managing director. ^[6] She is also involved in public relations, consultancy, social interaction, public speaking, public welfare and education. At one point she was involved in the 2008 Summer Olympics educational affairs. ^[7]

During her childhood time at Po Leung Kuk, Cheung had maintained a contact with an aunt, who lived in Los Angeles but did not reveal her true relations. After several letter engagements with the aunt to Cheung's later years, it was revealed that this aunt is a relative of her mother. Later in 2003, Cheung finally reunited with her then 80-year old birth mother, and she found out from her that her birth father had died much earlier. ^[8]

In 2012, Cheung was remarried to the teacher and architect John Yu (余文平), the second son of Professor Timothy Yu (余也魯), the founding professor of School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University. ^{[9] [10]} Cheung's mother died in 2013 at the age of 90.

Cheung ended her Merry Mary radio talk show with Metro Info in December 2020 after running for 26 years. ^[11]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Original Title	Role	Note
1984	Double Decker	三文治
1987	Life is a Moment	朝花夕拾
1988	Hellbent		Dancing Girl	Cameo

Television dramas

Year	Title	Original Title	Role	Network	Note
1976	Star	明星		CTV	Also the original singer of the theme song Star (明星) (formerly 當你見到天上星星) [12]
1978	Crocodile Tears	鱷魚淚	蕭愛蓮	RTV
1978		郎心如鐵		RTV
1979	It Takes A Thief	俠盜風流	Kung Fei-yin	RTV
1979		追雲擒龍		RTV
1979	Movie Circle	電影圈		RTV
1979	Reincarnated	天蠶變	玄陰宮主	RTV
1979	The Roving Swordsman	沈勝衣	慕容孤芳	RTV
1979	Great White Shark	大白鯊		RTV

Variety shows

Year	Title	Original Title	Role	Network	Notes
1985–1997	Crime Watch	繩之於法	Host	RTHK

Radio shows

Year	Title	Original Title	Role	Network	Notes
1994–2020	Merry Mary	百分百張瑪莉	Host	Metro Info

Notable works

• (門內攝影集)
• Flower Says (花的宣言)
• (情牽筆墨)
• Outside World: New Zealand (人間世外新西蘭)
• Beautiful Memories (美麗的回憶)
• Women's Heart (女人心)
• Lover's Story (倩兒的故事)

Awards

• 1975 Miss Hong Kong Champion
• 1988 Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award
• Most Successful Women of the 21st Century
• Top Ten Thoughtful Stars Award ^[13]

References

1. "基督日報(香港) - 張瑪莉真情分享「恩典太美麗」". www.gospelherald.com.hk. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
2. "Useful tips and practical advice on succeeding in life from Mary Cheung, professional image consultant and former Miss Hong Kong". yp.scmp.com. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
3. "百分百張瑪莉 - 新城知訊台". www.metroradio.com.hk. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
4. "再婚8年仍跟亡夫姓！張瑪莉難忘李忠琛". on.cc東網 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 2019-04-17.
5. "为何前港姐张玛莉要与李忠琛离婚？离婚后仍冠前夫姓，这是为何？_李小龙". www.sohu.com. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
6. "她是李小龙嫂子 曾流浪街头 面相最老的港姐". 雪花新闻. 2018-08-10. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
7. "Much more than a good-looker". South China Morning Post. 19 May 1997. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
8. "再婚了護照仍冠前夫姓 張瑪莉喜尋回父親足跡". hk.celebrity.yahoo.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 2019-03-25.
9. "62歲張瑪莉認再婚 「生活好甜蜜」". Apple Daily 蘋果日報. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
10. "孤兒港姐張瑪莉 驚爆生父是富商 - 娛樂放題 - 娛樂追擊". 東周網【東周刊官方網站】Eastweek.com.hk (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2019-03-25.
11. "68岁港姐冠军被解雇：时代抛弃你的时候，连一声再见都不说" [68-year-old Miss Hong Kong champion was fired: When the times abandon you, they don’t even say goodbye]. sohu.com (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on 2024-09-30. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
12. "黄霑：《明星》背后的故事_影音娱乐_新浪网". ent.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
13. "Ms Mary Pandora Cheung: 1975 Miss Hong Kong - All China Women's Federation". www.womenofchina.cn. Retrieved 2019-03-25.

External links

• www.marycheung.com
• Mary Cheung at IMDb

Achievements
Preceded by Jojo Cheung	Miss Hong Kong 1975	Succeeded by Rowena Lam