Kieu Chinh: "Four great beauties of Saigon", from cleaners to Hollywood actors

Kieu Chinh was one of the most sought-after names in Saigon before 1975. When mentioning Kieu Chinh, people often immediately think of the image of a Vietnamese female movie star with many flowery words: beautiful, gentle, modest and very talented.

Kieu Chinh was one of the four great beauties of Saigon at one time, standing shoulder to shoulder with Tham Thuy Hang, Thanh Nga, and Kim Cuong in beauty, with natural talent and passion. She fell in love with cinema and became the only Vietnamese female star to be honored in Hollywood - the harshest artistic land in the world.

Kieu Chinh's real name is Nguyen Thi Kieu Chinh. She was born on September 3, 1937 in a well-off 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. Two years later, Kieu Chinh married the son of the benefactor's family who supported her and had 3 children with her husband.

Two years later, right at the time when the "one-child girl's" beauty was at its most brilliant, she was discovered by the filmmaking team of Mr. Bui Diem and director Le Dan at a party and brought into cinema through the movie "The Bell of Heaven". Mu" with the stage name Kieu Chinh. The role made an impression on the public.

After her first appearance on screen, Kieu Chinh continued to achieve success with many films: "Forest Rain", "A Thousand Years of Flying Clouds", "Lover Without Portrait", "Waiting for Morning", " The shadow on the side of the road"...

With a saintly face, a rare luxurious and noble charisma, a simple and profound way of playing the role and fluent English, Kieu Chinh has an advantage over her co-stars when foreign film crews need actors. native.

In 1968, Kieu Chinh acted in the American-produced movie "Year Of The Tiger" with famous actor Marshall Thompson and a number of other actors such as: Hoang Vinh Loc, Nguyen Long, Nam Chau, Kieu Hanh ...

In 1971, surpassing many Indian movie beauties, Kieu Chinh won the role of Princess Kamar Souria in the movie "Inside Out". Kieu Chinh's main co-stars were two famous actors at that time: Rod Perry (USA) and Dev Anand (India). This role was discussed as an entertainment phenomenon in India at that time because the person playing the princess was not a native actress.

Glory brought Kieu Chinh to many world film festivals such as: West Germany, India, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand... In 1973 Kieu Chinh won the Best Actress award. of the Asian Film Congress in Taipei.

In addition to her acting talent, Kieu Chinh is also a very active film producer. Giao Chi Cinema is a private film studio founded by Kieu Chinh before 1975 in Saigon that has produced many high-budget films and won many awards.

However, while at the peak of glory, Kieu Chinh suddenly encountered an incident and moved with her family to Canada. In a foreign country, this "beautiful" woman had to work hard in labor camps. Sometimes the only job she could find was cleaning chicken manure or working as a cleaning lady to earn a few coins to make ends meet.

At the age of 38, she was sponsored to come to the US. That was also the time when Kieu Chinh decided to return to cinema even though she had to start from scratch. Just 1 year after coming to America (1976), she received the main role in a famous television series in the US. at the time. After that, Kieu Chinh's image continuously appeared in movies and television and had the opportunity to act with Hollywood actors. Especially with her role in the movie The Joy Luck Club, Kieu Chinh is the only Asian actor named in the list of 50 actors who made audiences cry the most in cinema history.

Arriving in the United States at the age of 38, Kieu Chinh thought she had crossed over to the other side of her career, but she was very destined for Hollywood, gradually becoming the first Vietnamese actress to succeed in the harshest land. world film industry.

Not only is Kieu Chinh favored by directors, she also continuously won many prestigious awards. In 1996, she received an Emmy Award for the documentary 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's Film Festival in Torino, 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.

In addition to acting, she also participates as a consultant for American film studios when making films about Vietnamese topics, and is also a professional speaker for GTN (Greater Talent Network). She regularly speaks at universities and women's associations on topics such as cultural differences between Europe and Asia, modern women, Asian actors working in Hollywood or talking about her own life. Kieu Chinh's reign. Places that want to invite her to appear must book appointments many months or even years in advance.

Currently, at the age of 90, Kieu Chinh is still living in the US, occasionally she only returns to visit her homeland. The first day back after 41 years of wandering was in 1995 to inaugurate a school in Quang Tri. She was moved to tears when she saw familiar images again.

Not only that, she and some friends also founded VCF (The Vietnam Children Fund - Vietnam Children's Fund). After more than 20 years of operation, her charity fund has so far built 50 schools in many provinces and cities in Vietnam. While many fans still remember her for her lifetime role in Thien Mu's Bells, to her juniors in the industry, Kieu Chinh is a "legend" of the film industry.

Regarding art, in March 2021 in Los Angeles, California (USA), movie actress Kieu Chinh was honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organizing Committee of the Asian World Film Festival ( AWFF) awarded.