Profile of Anita Mui on Famous Like Me

Anita Mui Yim-fong (梅艷芳; pinyin: Méi Yànfāng; Cantonese Yale: muìh yihm fòng) (October 10, 1963–December 30, 2003) was a popular Hong Kong pop singer and actress.

Background

Mui had one elder sister and two brothers. Her father died when she was eight, her mother moved in with another man, hoping he would look after her children. However, Mui and her family later discovered he was already married. Mui told a local magazine that her mother became very temperamental from that point and always took it out on them. Mui claimed to have been desperate to get away from her family.

From the early 1980s to 2003, she was excellent friends with Leslie Cheung, another Hong Kong pop star, who committed suicide in April 2003. She was very devastated by his death.

Anita Mui announced in early September 2003 that she had cervical cancer and was undergoing treatment. Some of her friends and the media were baffled as to why she took so long to undergo treatment when it appeared she knew of her ailment when it was in a fairly early stage. It was widely believed she forwent early treatment because she wanted to preserve the possibility to conceive. Mui eventually lost her battle to cervical cancer and died of respiratory complications at Hong Kong's Sanitorium Hospital on December 30, 2003 at 02:50 (local time). She was 40 and single. Her sister, Ann Mui, also a Hong Kong singer, died of cancer in 2000.

Music career

Well-known in Chinese communities the world over, Mui shot to stardom after winning the first New Talent Singing Contest in 1982, beating over 3,000 contestants. She entered show business as a singer when she was five and turned professional when she was seven. Anita and her sister, Ann Mui. performed Chinese operas and pop songs in numerous restaurants and nightclubs, until she won the singing contest in 1982 with the song "Season of Wind" (風的季節). Despite her title as "new talent" at that time, she had already been a singer for ten years.

Because of her huge success as a pop singer, and her ever-changing images, she is often referred to as the "Madonna of Hong Kong," a comparison resented by some fans who felt that she deserves to be recognised in her own right. Her singing career was once compared to that of Diana Ross by CNN.

Mui's first album was released with the Capital Artist Record Company within a year of the contest. Her debut drew a lukewarm response from audience.

In 1985, Mui won her first 10 Best Solid Gold Best Female Singer award. The same award went to her in the following four years. She maintained an unbroken record. Mui won also best songs awards, both for album songs and movie theme songs.

Mui also gained popularity overseas. She held a concert in Taiwan in 1988, and became the first artist from Hong Kong to give a solo concert there. That same year, she was invited to sing at the Olympics opening ceremony in Seoul, Korea.

Mui had her first concert in 1985, lasting 15 nights. Her 28 consecutive concerts in late 1987 won her the title of "Ever Changing Anita Mui" (百變梅艷芳), which became her trademark.

In 1990, Mui announced that she would put an end to receiving music awards to give a chance to newcomers. She held farewell concerts for 33 consecutive nights before retiring from stage. She stepped down at only 28 years old, but returned from retirement in 1994.

Over the years, Mui has released over 40 albums. Possibly her best was her fourth album, released in 1986 and named "Bad Girl" (壞女孩) which had an eight platinum-selling album (about 400,000 pieces sold). "Bad Girl" holds the record for the best-selling Cantonese album in Hong Kong.

"Anita Classics Movement Live" Concert, held from November 6 to November 11, 2003 at Hong Kong Colosseum, was her sixth and the last concert.

Albums

• 心債 (1982)
• 赤色 (1983)
• 飛躍舞台 (1984)
• 似水流年 (1985)
• 壞女孩 (1985)
• 蔓珠莎華(國語大碟) (1985)
• 妖女 (1986)
• 似火探戈 (1987)
• 烈焰紅唇 (1987)
• 夢裡共醉 (1988)
• 百變梅艷芳再展光華87-88演唱會 (1988)
• 百變梅艷芳-烈焰紅唇(國語大碟) (1988)
• We'll be Together (1988)
• 淑女 (1989)
• In Brasil (1989)
• 愛我便說愛我吧 (1989)
• 封面女郎 (1990)
• 百變梅艷芳夏日耀光華演唱會90 (1990)
• 慾望野獸街 (1991)
• 親密愛人(國語大碟) (1991)
• The Legend of the Pop Queen Part I (1992)
• The Legend of the Pop Queen Part II (1992)
• 情幻一生 (1993)
• 變 (1993)
• 皇者之風 (1993)
• 戲劇人生 (1993)
• 是這樣的 (1994)
• 小心(香港版 及 台灣版) (1994)
• 歌之女 (1995)
• 一個美麗的回響演唱會 (1995)
• 鏡花水月 (1997)
• 情歌．梅艷芳(精選大碟) (1997)
• 芳蹤乍現台北演唱會實錄(國語大碟) (1997)
• 女人花(國語大碟) (1997)
• 仲夏變奏 (1998)
• 情歌II (精選大碟) (1998)
• 床前明月光 (國語大碟) (1998)
• Larger Than Life (1999)
• 沒話說 (1999)
• I'm So Happy (2000)
• 眾裡尋芳 (2001)
• With (2002)
• 梅艷芳極夢幻演唱會2002 (2002)

Sources: ,

Acting career

Anita Mui is also well-known as an actress across the Asia region. Her films have mainly been of the action thriller and kung fu variety, but she has also taken comedic roles. In 1995, she found some international recognition by starring opposite Jackie Chan in Rumble in the Bronx, the film that was largely responsible for Jackie Chan himself breaking into the American market.

Apart from singing, Mui won her first acting award as a supporting actress in the movie "Fate" in 1984. In 1987, her movie "Rouge" presented her with the Golden Horse Best Actress award. Later on in 1997, she also won another best supporting actress award with the movie "Eighteen Springs".

Anita was originally cast for Zhang Yimou's 2004 movie House of Flying Daggers. She resigned from her position in the movie only two weeks before her death. Zhang had held her parts of filming to the last due to her poor health condition. The filming was already 80% done when she died. Zhang didn't replace Anita's role with another actress. The screenplay was changed to take the storyline off the original character. The new leader of the "House of Flying Daggers" never appears in the movie because it was Anita's role.

Filmography

• Mad Mad 83 瘋狂83 (1983)
• Let's Make Laugh 表錯七日情 (1983)
• Fate 緣份 (1984)
• The Musical Singer 歌舞昇平 (1985)
• Lucky Diamond 祝你好運 (1985)
• Young Cops 青春差館 (1985)
• Happy Din Don 歡樂叮噹 (1985)#
• Chocolate Inspector 神探朱古力 (1986)
• Why, Why, Tell Me Why? 壞女孩 (1986)
• Last Song in Paris 偶然 (1986)
• 100 Ways To Murder Your Wife 殺妻二人組 (1986)
• Scared Stiff 小生夢驚魂 (1987)#
• Troubling Couples 開心物語 (1987)
• Happy Bigamist 一屋兩妻 (1987)
• Rouge 胭脂扣 (1988)
• One Husband too Many 一妻兩夫 (1988)#
• The Greatest Lover 公子多情 (1988)
• Three Wishes 黑心鬼 (1988)
• Miracles 奇蹟 (1989)
• A Better Tomorrow 3 英雄本色3-夕陽之歌 (1989)
• Kawashima Yoshiko 川島芳子 (1990)
• Shanghai Shanghai 亂世兒女 (1990)
• The Fortune Code 富貴兵團 (1990)
• The Top Bet 賭霸 (1991)
• Till We Meet Again 何日君再來 (1991)
• The Banquet 豪門夜宴 (1991)#
• Saviour Of The Soul 91神鵰俠侶 (1991)
• Justice, My Foot 審死官 (1992)
• Moon Warriors 戰神傳說 (1992)
• Fight Back to School 3 逃學威龍3之龍過雞年 (1993)*
• Executioners 現代豪俠傳 (1993)
• The Heroic Trio 東方三俠 (1993)
• Mad Monk æ¿Ÿå…¬ (1993)
• The Magic Crane 新仙鶴神針 (1993)
• Drunken Master 2 醉拳2 (1994)
• Rumble in the Bronx 紅番區 (1995)
• My Father is a Hero 給爸爸的信 (1995)
• Who's the Woman, Who's the Man 金枝玉葉-2 (1996)*
• Twinkle Twinkle 運財智叻星 (1996)#
• Eighteen Springs 半生緣 (1997)
• Dance of a Dream 愛君如夢 (2001)
• Wu Yen 鍾無艷 (2001)
• Midnight Fly 慌心假期 (2001)
• Let's Sing Along 男歌女唱 (2001)
• July Rhapsody 男人四十 (2002)

# Anita Mui wasn't the leading or supporting actress in the film
* She was the supporting actress in the film

Sources: ,

Other contributions

Anita Mui was actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career.

In 1992, the Mayor of San Francisco declared April 18 of that year as "Anita Mui Day" to honor her contributions to society by raising funds for the Nursing Home which bears her name. October 26, 1993 was then again declared as "Anita Mui Day" again in San Francisco.

During the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a fund raising concert titled "1:99 Concert" which was the second concert allowed to be held at the Hong Kong Stadium.

She was one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild (HKPAG, 香港演藝人協會), which was established in 1993, and was its chairlady. She resigned because of her health.

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