Maggie Cheung Man-yuk is a Hong Kong former actress. Raised in Hong Kong and Britain, she started her career after placing second in 1983's Miss Hong Kong Pageant. She achieved critical success in the late 1980s and into the early 2000s, before taking a break from acting following her last starring role in 2004. She rarely makes public appearances except for fashion events and award ceremonies.
Cheung in 2007
Cheung at the 2007 Shanghai International Film Festival
Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress
The Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually at the Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA). It is given to honour an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a Hong Kong film.[Note 1] The 1st Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony was held in 1982, with no formal nomination procedure established; the award was given to Kara Hui for her role in My Young Auntie. After the first award ceremony, a nomination system was put in place whereby no more than five nominations are made for each category and each entry is selected through two rounds of voting. Firstly, prospective nominees are marked with a weight of 50% each from HKFA voters and a hundred professional adjudicators, contributing towards a final score with which the top five nominees advance to the second round of voting. The winner is then selected via a scoring process where 55% of the vote comes from 55 professional adjudicators, 25% from representatives of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild and 20% from all other HKFA Executive Committee Members.
Kara Hui was the first to win the award for her role in My Young Auntie (1981).
Maggie Cheung won the award five times for her roles in A Fishy Story (1989), Center Stage (1991), Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1996), The Soong Sisters (1997) and In the Mood for Love (2000).
Sylvia Chang won the award twice for her roles in Passion (1986) and Forever and Ever (2002).
Brigitte Lin was nominated for her role in Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain as well as on three other occasions.