Kieu Chinh - the peak of beauty in the 60s, the only Vietnamese beauty registered in the Hollywood "golden table"

At the age of 18, Kieu Chinh officially fell in love with cinema in the 1957 film "The Bell of Thien Mu" and was the first step to becoming the most famous female star of Vietnam ever.

Kieu Chinh's real name is Nguyen Thi Kieu Chinh. She was born on September 3, 1937 into a well-to-do family in Hanoi. In 1954, Kieu Chinh was brought to the South by her father's friend's family, when she was 15 years old.

During the war between Japan and the Allies, her mother passed away along with her infant child. Her father was there to raise 3 children. However, the departure in 1954 caused her and her relatives to continue to be apart. Her voice was deeply sad when she talked about the divorce in 1954. "The night before my family left, my brother joined the student movement and went to the war zone. In turn, my father pushed me on the plane and told me : "I'll go first. I'll stay to look for your brother and then go to the South later..." That was the last time I saw my father. My father could not find my brother and never entered Saigon either..."

Two years later, Kieu Chinh married the son of her benefactor's family and had three children with her husband. At the age of 18, Kieu Chinh came to the 7th art. Right from her first film, she was assigned the main role.

Immediately after that, she was immediately admired and warmly received by the public. With natural gentle beauty and natural talent, Kieu Chinh continuously achieved success in the next films.

At that time, besides Vietnamese films, she also appeared in many famous American films. These films also helped Kieu Chinh become an international star.

In 1956, while returning from church service and walking on Tu Do Street, the famous Hollywood director Joseph L. Mankiewicz was sitting in the cafe on the ground floor of Contentinal Palace, discovered and immediately invited her to play the role. Phuong for The Quiet American. The director gave the script to Kieu Chinh to recite and the next day he would audition for the role.

When Kieu Chinh returned, she told her husband's parents about this incident. At that time, she was newly married, staying at her husband's parents' house. It was a time when cinema was not popular in Vietnam, so it was something very strange for a girl to be invited by Hollywood to act in a movie, and after hearing the script briefly, Kieu Chinh's parents-in-law disagreed. for her to participate in the main role in the film.

Kieu Chinh went back to meet the director, presented again and apologized for not being able to participate, he felt very surprised, but had to accept it, and invited Kieu Chinh to play a cameo role that only appeared for a few seconds in the film. and no voice.

Until 1 year later, at the age of 18, Kieu Chinh officially fell in love with cinema in the 1957 film "The Bell Thien Mu" and was the first step to become the most famous female star of Vietnam ever.

It is a film made by Mr. Bui Diem, directed by Le Dan with the male lead role as Le Quynh (husband of singer Thai Thanh).

Kieu Chinh recounted: Mr. Bui Diem asked actor Le Quynh to come to his house to ask for permission to let me go to film. My husband's family asked about the role I played and about the film, Le Quynh said that this is the role of a nun in Thien Mu Pagoda. My family is a Buddhist family, so the grandparents happily let me go to film. That's why I was able to act in films and become an actor, since the film "Chong Chuong Thien Mu".

Since then, she has completely switched to using the stage name Kieu Chinh.

After the first role, Kieu Chinh continuously achieved success in subsequent films such as Rain Forest by Alpha Films - directed by Thai Thuc Nha, co-starring with Kim Cuong, Xuan Phat and Ngoc Phu. By the third film, Thousand Years of Clouds, adapted from the novel by Van Quang, directed by Hoang Anh Tuan, Kieu Chinh was already a "star". This film was shown all over the big screens in Saigon, Can Tho, and Hue in 1962.

During the 1960s, she also appeared in American films such as "A Yank in Vietnam" (1964) and "Operation CIA" (1965) (co-starring Burt Reynolds), Destination Vietnam (1968).

After that, Kieu Chinh became the most famous movie star in the South with the main roles in a series of films: Storm of Love, From Saigon to Dien Bien Phu, Late Summer, Waiting for Morning, The Shadow on the Side of the Road... especially the famous plastic film produced by her, starring as Lover Without Portrait.

In 1970, Kieu Chinh once again went abroad to India with Indian star - Dev Anand starring in the movie The Evil Within...

With her talent, Kieu Chinh has set foot in many international film festivals such as: West Germany, India, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand...

At that time, Kieu Chinh was praised as the leading actress of Vietnamese cinema.

Successfully went to Canada to collect chicken manure

However, when she was at the peak of glory, Kieu Chinh suddenly moved with her family to Canada in 1975. In Canada, the only job she could earn at that time was collecting chicken manure and doing manual labor. legs are very normal like many other women, even doing jobs like cleaning to earn money to cover their lives.

During the difficult time, Kieu Chinh contacted Tippy Hedren (the famous American film actor in the movie "The Bird" by director Hitchcock that Kieu Chinh met when Tippy Hedren visited Saigon in 1965). So 10 years after that meeting, Kieu Chinh contacted, and was immediately sponsored by Tippy to enter the US.

Great success in America

At the age of 38, Kieu Chinh went to America. At the age of 38, as if he had crossed the slope to the other side of his career, Kieu Chinh suddenly set foot in Hollywood and became the first Vietnamese actor to succeed in the harshest land of the world film industry. .

It can be said that Kieu Chinh is lucky. Going to the US in 1975, in 1976, he immediately received his first role in Hollywood and since then, he has continuously acted in movies. Starting from small roles, appearing briefly with a few lines, Kieu Chinh gradually had the opportunity to act with many famous Hollywood actors. She has appeared in over 100 American films and television shows. Among them are famous films such as "The Letter" (1986), "Welcome Home (1989), "Vietnam-Texas" (1989), "What Cooking" (2000), "Face" (2001), "Journey" from The Fall" (2004).

Especially with her role in the movie "The Joy Luck Club", Kieu Chinh is the only Asian-American actor named in the list of 50 actors who make audiences cry the most in movie history.

Until now, Kieu Chinh is the first and only Vietnamese actor to achieve these remarkable achievements in Hollywood.

After that, she continuously achieved a lot of success and was awarded many prestigious awards. In 1996, Kieu Chinh received an Emmy Award for the documentary film Kieu Chinh: A Journey Home directed by Patrick Perez / KTTV. In 2003, Kieu Chinh was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Also in 2003, at the Women Film Festival in Turin, Italy, Kieu Chinh was awarded the Special Acting Award. Until now, Kieu Chinh is the first and only Vietnamese actor to achieve these remarkable achievements in Hollywood.

Not only affirming her talent in acting, she also participates in consulting for American studios when making films on Vietnamese topics.

For more than 20 years, in addition to acting, Kieu Chinh is also a professional speaker of GTN (Greater Talent Network). She often speaks at universities and women's associations on topics such as cultural differences between Europe and Asia, modern women, Asian-American actors working in Hollywood or talking about her own life. Kieu Chinh's life. Places to invite have booked months or even years in advance.

Returning home, setting up fund to build 50 schools for poor students

Currently, Kieu Chinh, at the age of seventy years old, is still living in the US, sometimes she visits her homeland. On the first day back after 41 years of being lost, she was moved to tears when she saw familiar images again.

Although the streets are no longer the same as before, the trees also have a different appearance, but it is still very familiar, still very dear. Therefore, Hanoi is two very sacred words for her.

Kieu Chinh left Hanoi at the age of 17, lived in Saigon for 21 years, and lived in the US for more than 40 years, but she still speaks Hanoi, not a bit mixed.

Not only that, she and some friends founded the VCF (The Vietnam children fund - Vietnam Children's Fund). After more than 20 years, up to now, 50 schools have been built in many provinces and cities in Vietnam.

Asking her why at the age of needing to rest, she is still engrossed in her work, she smiled kindly: "I thought I had retired at this age for a long time. But I don't understand why more and more day by day. I'm busy again. I have that much time, but work always pushes me in a hurry. As long as I'm healthy, I will do something useful, I will do it until my legs can't walk anymore, then stop. ".

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