Julian Cheung Chi-lam (born 27 August 1971), better known by his stage name Chilam, is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Cheung is popularly known for his role as Guo Jing in the 1994 TV series adaptation of the Wuxia novel, The Legend of the Condor Heroes, and also as Chi-Kin from the TVB drama Cold Blood Warm Heart (1996). Cheung hit instant fame in 1991 with the release of his first single, "A Modern Love Story" with Maple Hui and has since been the only artist that has sold the most copies for a debut album under IFPI. In 1992, Cheung received a TVB Jade Solid Gold award as Best Newcoming Singer (Bronze) for his first album. In 2000, Cheung reap 2 notable awards from TVB for the drama, Return of the Cuckoo.

Early life

Born in Hong Kong on 27 August 1971, Cheung spent most of his early years in Hong Kong attending all-male Catholic primary school. He later went to a Protestant secondary school. He has an elder sister and a younger sister. When he was 13, his parents divorced and he and his father emigrated to Australia when he was 15. He attended Pendle Hill High School in Sydney. In 1986, his parents remarried but later divorced a second time. He was a good actor and singer and his father thought he had a gift and sent him to an acting school.

Career

In 1990 when Cheung was 19, Cheung visited Hong Kong during his summer vacation and was reacquainted with his cousin and childhood friend, Anna Ueyama (上山安娜). Anna introduced Cheung to his first manager, Tony. Impressed with Cheung's voice, Tony immediately signed him into IFPI and started to train him. Cheung then recorded his first song, a duet album with Hong Kong singer Maple Hui (許秋怡). The debut single, "A Modern Love Story", was released by the record company Fitto in 1991 and was an immense success. This single was on IFPI Album Sales Chart for 11 weeks, and as of today still holds the IFPI record for newcomer singers. That same year, Cheung signed into TVB and starred in his first television series, Peak of Passion, released in 1992. A year later, he filmed his very first movie, A Warrior's Tragedy. Cheung reached to the peak of his popularity in 1994 when he took part as the role of Guo Jing from The Legend of the Condor Heroes, which helped him to become one of the most favourite actors at that time. In 1996, he starred in the TVB classic hit drama Cold Blood Warm Heart, which acclaimed him notable praises of his performance, making him a household name and boosted his career in the Hong Kong entertainment industry. After the release of Cold Blood Warm Heart, he transitioned into movies such as Perfect Match and Comic King. He returned to TVB in 2000 in the series Return of the Cuckoo, which was a tremendous success with Charmaine Sheh, reaching a peak of 40 points. His status and recognition as an actor dramatically increased to countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan and China. He also reaped 2 awards in the TVB award ceremony (My Favorite Couple-with Charmaine Sheh and My Favorite Themesong), adding to his string of wins. in 2003, he won My Favorite Leading Character again for his role as Yeung Kwong from Take My Word For It. His performance with Charmaine Sheh in the 2004 drama Point of No Return also won the pair the Best Onscreen Couple award at the 2005 Astro Awards in Malaysia. Cheung has also found success in the Mainland entertainment industry with starring roles in the television series Ni Shui Han, Lu Xiao Feng, and Red Powder. In 2012, he returned to TVB to film sequel to TVB's 2003 blockbuster television drama Triumph in the Skies. His role as Captain Koo has boosted his popularity once again and earned him a spot in the peoples' hearts. Cheung has earned 60 million HKD in 2014.

Music

His first concert at Hong Kong Coliseum was held on 27 March 2011 which the title for the concert was I Am An Alien. On 6 July 2014, he had his second concert at Hong Kong Coliseum on four-sided stage, called Crazy Hours. In 2021, he joined the cast of reality TV show Call Me by Fire as a contestant.

Personal life

Cheung is married to Hong Kong actress Anita Yuen. They have a son together, born in 2006. Their relationship started back in the 1990s where they met each other in the Hong Kong entertainment business in a music video they did together and during that time, they were at the height of their Hong Kong entertainment careers and eventually by 1994, they publicly announced their relationship. They secretly wedded in 2001 in San Francisco, California. Anita said in 2021 that they tried to have another child, but all efforts failed including in vitro fertilisation. Cheung's uncle is Charlie Cho.

Discography

He has recorded albums in both Cantonese and Mandarin. He has been with various record labels, such as Fitto Entertainment, Sony Music, EMI (Cantonese albums only), Rock Records (Mandarin albums only), Cinepoly Records (subsidiary of Universal Music Hong Kong), Starj & Snazz and Neway Star. Note: The album was later re-released under the EMI label and later, Warner Music.

Filmography

Television series

Film

Variety and reality show

Awards