Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang: A life of struggle, being abandoned by 6 wives because of poverty, making Vu Linh indebted for life

As one of the creators of the glorious period of Vietnamese cai luong, Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang is respected and admired by many artists. In it, Meritorious Artist Vu Linh once claimed to be indebted to seniors for life.

The late Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang was the most famous reformist artist in the 70s in the South of Vietnam, a forefather of veteran artists such as Minh Vuong, Le Thuy, Ngoc Giau... Along with "the queen of the yard" theater" is the late meritorious artist Thanh Nga, he has created cai luong plays that go down in the history of this art such as Me Linh Drum, Silk Weaving Bridge...

Such is the popularity, but the late Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang had a rough life, drowning in poverty. Standing on stage for a lifetime, the late Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang loved cai luong as part of his bloodline, even when he was old and weak, he still went on stage and fulfilled his role.

A life in a difficult situation, abandoned by 6 wives because of poverty

Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang's real name is Nguyen Van Thu, born in 1943 in Hoa Hiep commune, Phuoc Hai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau. His paternal hometown is in Binh Dinh, his maternal hometown is Tuy Hoa, Phu Yen.

Born in a poor fishing village, Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang spent an extremely difficult childhood. His father died early, and his mother had to take care of her children alone. From a young age, he had to go fishing to earn money to support his family and go to school, sometimes he was so hungry that he had to pick up a dead cow floating in the sea to eat through the day.

Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang once confided: "My life has many ups and downs, but my passion for singing is still burning in me. Even if I'm poor, I keep my job, so I never hurt my career. That's how I am. behave fairly with life, because life allows me to do double singing, no matter how I live or die, I still keep my love."

That's how pompous on stage is, but few people know that Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang was once abandoned by 6 wives, the cause is inherently surrounded by poverty. Not enough money to sing, he had to run more taxis, just had to support himself, his mother had to support his wife, his life was not enough, so his six wives all left one by one.

The 7th wife of the late Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang is the daughter of the owner of the Cai Luong troupe that he sang with. Because of his admiration for his talent, she married her daughter to him despite his poverty at that time. However, the matchmaking marriage lasted 38 years, the 7th wife stayed with him until the last years of his life.

The 7th wife said that her life and her husband were not very good, in addition to singing "theatrical king" had to buy old cars, tinkering with repairs and refurbishing to resell to earn extra income. Although he was the main actor, the late artist did not mind anything, he drove his car to get the board, went to the kitchen to cook, and made his own props to save money for his mother-in-law's troupe.

Love reform until the last years of life

In the last years of his life, Thanh Sang's health deteriorated and he had to find folk remedies for treatment, but he never ran out of love for art. He still misses his job, misses the stage, even though he's not stable enough to walk, let alone sing or perform.

However, in 2015, Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang accepted to play the role of Hai Cang in Half a Life of Perfume. Before stepping on stage, he could not even wear a shirt, so he had to ask People's Artist Minh Vuong to help.

His voice at this time was somewhat stunned, but the audience all clapped. After singing the play, he stepped off the stage and collapsed, then was taken to the hospital and comatose for 18 days. This is also his last role.

In 2017, the whole country mourned when they heard that the "stage king" had officially retired from the earthly world, retiring from the arts after a period of fighting illness, at the age of 74. People's Artist Le Thuy shared that until the end of his life, Thanh Sang still loved the stage, he also promised to hold a live show to celebrate his 75th birthday, but he left when the dream was still unfulfilled.

With a lifetime of dedication, considering Cai Luong as the lifeblood, the late Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang is considered one of the people who have contributed to bringing this art to the yellow page of history. Although he has not yet won the title of People's Artist, in the hearts of the audience, Thanh Sang is truly an "artist of the people".

Meritorious Artist Vu Linh is forever grateful

In a clip 2 years ago, the late Meritorious Artist Vu Linh once told his children and grandchildren that when he was 15 years old, he signed a contract with Soul Water Records: "Just trying to breathe, I was asked by the owner of the record label: You What do you want? At that time, I was really shocked."

At that time, the Vietnamese record label was full of famous singers such as Minh Phung, Minh Canh, Le Thuy, My Chau... On the side of the soul label, there were only a few names, including Tan Tai and Mong Nghi. sing like My Chau). Therefore, when he discovered the strange voice of Vu Linh, the owner of the record label at all costs had to invite the young couple to join the army.

"When Uncle Nam brought 100,000 coins back, his parents thought he was going to rob. At that time, the 500-dong coin was the biggest denomination," Vu Linh said.

Vu Linh said that the late Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang was the one who drove him home, waited for him to bring money to his family, then drove him to shop. "I miss Mr. Sang forever. Mr. Sang did not accept my commission for a penny, while others asked for 70% of the referral fee. I was taken home by Mr. Sang, fed with rice, and put a mosquito net on his hand to sleep. I miss you so much," Vu Linh said.

Meritorious Artist Vu Linh was then brought by the late Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang to introduce to friends. In the eyes of colleagues, the 15-year-old child at that time was a child with a strange voice, especially rare.

"Mr Nam was praised by others for his strange singing, both like Thanh Tuan and like Linh Canh. Nam's life changed from then on", artist Vu Linh recalled his childhood.

During the talk, Meritorious Artist Vu Linh constantly remembered Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang. On the day Thanh Sang fell ill, Vu Linh went to his hospital bed to visit him. "Brother Sang, I'm so famous now, come back to life, I know what to do to keep you alive," Vu Linh said.

Admiring the way of life and profession of Meritorious Artist Thanh Sang, Meritorious Artist Vu Linh decided to become "a ferryman", always dedicated to teaching juniors later.

People's Artist Minh Vuong: The first-class Southern folk artist, burst into tears seeing his U100 parents off to Australia JLO20:35:00 19/11/2024At the age of over 70, the male artist chose to live a peaceful, gentle life after a period of suffering from a serious illness. However, when there is a suitable show, People's Artist Minh Vuong still tries to participate in the hope of meeting his audience again.