Kim Cuong

Kim Cuong (1937-     ) has often been accredited as the best actress of Vietnam of all time.  Although this legendary stage and film actress of Vietnam has not officially been given this coveted recognition, to many film and stage critics, as well as the general audience of Vietnamese stage and cinema Kim Cuong has been hailed as such with an acting career that has spanned nearly 3/4 of a century.  Born in Saigon, Kim Cuong comes from a long lineage of accomplished performers in dramatic and theatrical arts.  Her father is legendary theater producer, Nguyen Phuoc Cuong, and her mother is legendary stage actress, Bay Nam.  Kim Cuong's older brother is famous comedic actor, Ngoc Trai.

It can be said that Kim Cuong has always been an actress throughout her entire life and that an acting career had already been decided for her from childbirth.  Born as Nguyen Thi Kim Cuong on January 25, 1937 in the imperial city of Hue, only 10 days old she appeared on stage in a play starring her mother as Quan Am Thi Kinh's newly born infant.  Her first major speaking role would come about while Kim Cuong was still a young child in a play written by her mother, Na Tra Loc Thit, portraying Na Tra as a child during the beginning of its storyline.  Kim Cuong spent her childhood, adolescence and years growing up into adulthood working and travelling with her family all over Vietnam performing at playhouse theaters.  By the time Kim Cuong was an adult, she was already naturally poised for superstardom since she had already been a household name virtually all her life.  During her early teen years, Kim Cuong and her mother, Bay Nam, would find their niche as audiences highly embraced their performances portraying heartfelt, dramatic mother-and-daughter scenarios  on stage.  Tear-drenched audiences were enamored by the natural chemistry that Bay Nam and her young daughter were able to display with each of their performances.

She has also been recognized for her tremendous accomplishments as a playwright.  The national literature department of Vietnam had named Kim Cuong, who had chosen to be credited as Hoang Dung as a scriptwriter with a long and extensive list of scripts made for theater productions, as the most prolific Vietnamese playwright in the history of Vietnamese live theater.  Among her most famous plays she had written and also had starred in include Duoi Hai Mau Ao, Tra Hoa Nu, Toi Lam Me, Bong Hong Cai Ao, Vuc Tham Chieu Cao and La Sau Rieng, which has been considered by many to be her best work and signature performance.  Bay Nam would also be involved on these productions written by her daughter, as she would portray the role of the mother.

Kim Cuong photographed with legendary
 Hong Kong cinema actress Li Li Hua (1956)

In addition to the stage, Kim Cuong also starred in many successful feature films produced in South Vietnam prior to 1975 such as Long Nhan Dao (1955) with Tran Van Trach, Ngoc Bo De (1956), Doi Mat Huyen (1960), Be Bang (1961) with La Thoai Tan, Mua Rung (1962), Loan Mat Nhung (1970), Chiec Bong Ben Duong (1973) with Thanh Duoc, Tu Quai Sai Gon (1973) and Dat Kho (1974).  Kim Cuong along with Tham Thuy Hang, Kieu Chinh and Thanh Nga were considered as cinema of South Vietnam's top lead actresses, as these four ladies dominated the big screen throughout the 1960s up until the Fall of Saigon in 1975.  Like Kieu Chinh and Tham Thuy Hang, in the early 1970s Kim Cuong had also formed her own successful film production company that had produced several of her feature films like Bien Dong (1971), Mua Trong Binh Minh (1972) and Mot Thoang Dam Me (1973) prior to 1975 which employed an impressive cast of major players in Saigon cinema such as La Thoai Tan, Thanh Thuy and Bach Tuyet.

Tham Thuy Hang and Kim Cuong, 
the Queens of Saigon Cinema Prior to 1975

After the Fall of Saigon, Kim Cuong's acting career continued without any interruptions on the stage as well as in feature films.  For a number of years, Kim Cuong relocated to Bulgaria to study film directing.  Several of her plays have since been made into movies available on video rentals in the 1990s such as Tra Hoa Nu and La Sau Rieng.  In recent years, Kim Cuong had made the headlines when she had threatened to sue Thuy Nga Paris, a Vietnamese-American production company, for copyright infringement and unauthorized usage of her play, La Sau Rieng.  However, after receiving a personal apology letter from singer and stage actress, Huong Lan, Kim Cuong publicly announced that she had dropped the lawsuit.

Kim Cuong is now retired from the stage and films.  She lives in Ho Chi Minh City.  In her personal life, Kim Cuong was once married briefly during the early 1970s.  Although the marriage ended in divorce after only a few years, it did produce her only child, a son born in 1974 who is now married with a family of his own.  These days, when Kim Cuong is not busy with her humanitarian efforts volunteering for various charity organizations she spends her time as a proud grandmother to three young boys.

Singer Khanh Ly and Kim Cuong
at the Vòng Tay Nhân Ái charity benefit in Ho Chi Minh City (March, 2016)