Mary Cheung (born 11 August 1952) is a former

Miss Hong Kong Miss Hong Kong Pageant (), or Miss HK () for short, is an annual beauty pageant organised by local Hong Kong television station, TVB. The pageant was established in 1946, and acquired by TVB in 1973. Regulations Recruitment All participants ...

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 Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

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 The Social Welfare Department () is a department of the Hong Kong Government responsible for providing welfare services to the community. Responsibilities The department provides services to families and children, the elderly, recovering crimin ...

, and was taken to a charity organization

Po Leung Kuk The Po Leung Kuk, founded as the Society for the Protection of Women and Children, is a charitable organisation in Hong Kong that provides support for orphaned children, education and other services. History In the late 19th century, Ki ...

for adoption. 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'' (). She left CTV prior to its bankruptcy and signed on as a RTV actress. In 1980, Cheung was married to Dr Peter Lee (), a meteorologist of the Royal Observatory Hong Kong and the elder brother of the late

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

. Following which, Cheung retired from the entertainment industry and took up management courses at the

Hong Kong Polytechnic University The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU or HKPU) is a public research university in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The university is one of the eight government-funded degree-granting tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. Founded in 1937 a ...

. She gave birth to a son Lee Wai-ho () in 1981 and a daughter Lee Yuk-yee () in 1984. She was baptised as a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

in 1985. In 1994, Cheung became a host of her own radio talk show ''Merry Mary'' () under the radio network '' Metro Info'' of the

Metro Broadcast Corporation Metro Broadcast Corporation Ltd. () is one of Hong Kong's three radio broadcasting corporations. It was founded on 1 July 1991, and is owned by the Hong Kong-listed CK Hutchison Holdings. Services Metro Broadcast operates three radio chan ...

. In 1995, Cheung and Lee divorced and her two children left with their father. 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. She is also involved in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

consultancy A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Con ...

social interaction A social relation is the fundamental unit of analysis within the social sciences, and describes any voluntary or involuntary interpersonal relationship between two or more conspecifics within and/or between groups. The group can be a language or ...

public speaking Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

public welfare Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance p ...

and

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

. At one point she was involved in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

educational affairs. During her childhood time at Po Leung Kuk, Cheung had maintained a contact with an aunt, who lived in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of 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. In 2012, Cheung was remarried to the teacher and architect John Yu (), the second son of Professor Timothy Yu (), the founding professor of School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University. 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.

Filmography

Films

Television dramas

Variety shows

Radio shows

Notable works

* () * Flower Says () * (情牽筆墨) * Outside World: New Zealand () * Beautiful Memories () * Women's Heart () * Lover's Story ()

Awards

* ''1975

Champion'' * ''1988 Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award'' * ''Most Successful Women of the 21st Century'' * ''Top Ten Thoughtful Stars Award''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheung, Mary 1952 births Living people Cantonese people Hong Kong film actresses Hong Kong television actresses 20th-century Hong Kong actresses Miss Hong Kong winners Miss Universe 1975 contestants Hong Kong Christians Hong Kong Protestants