Born on August 11, 1956 in Saigon with a given birth name as Du Thi Thanh Nga, she spent the first ten years of her life in South Vietnam being brought up in an affluent, privileged family. Tiana's father, Du Phuoc Long, was a prominent South Vietnamese politician who had served as Director of Press in Saigon and Cultural Attaché in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. allied administration of President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam. Three years following the assassination of President Diem, Tiana's family decided to emigrate to the United States in 1966 leaving behind their aristocratic social status they had been accustomed to back in their native Saigon. They first resettled in Fairfax, Virginia where her father would continue as the family provider working as a diplomat for the South Vietnamese Embassy in Washington, D.C. Despite the challenges her family would face as an immigrant family in the United States, they adapted quite well into American middle class society rather quickly. Her father would further his education at Georgetown University Diplomatic School and Johns Hopkins University Graduate School of Advanced International Studies. He would later become a scriptwriter and newscaster for Voice of America, as well as an author with a published novel, The Dream Shattered: Vietnamese Gangs in America (1997). Like her father who would take on an anglicized name as Patrick Du Long upon resettling in the United States, she had taken on the name Tiana, which is an anglicized version of her Vietnamese name.
Tiana Alexandra attended Fairfax High School in Virginia. It was during high school that Tiana started to actively pursue her interests in performing arts, as well as martial arts. At a nationals competition held by martial arts master Jhoon Ree, she would be introduced to legendary martial arts movie actor Bruce Lee. She would become Bruce Lee's very first female protégée. Tiana left home while still a teenager and relocated to Hollywood, California. Through her friendship with Bruce Lee, she would meet her future husband, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Stirling Silliphant. Their wedding took place at the legendary Chasen's Restaurant in West Hollywood on July 4, 1975 while Tiana was still a month shy from turning 18. The star-studded wedding ceremony included a guest list of celebrities that were in attendance such as Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner, William Holden and Henry Mancini.For the remainder of the 1970s decade, mainstream America would become more familiarized with Tiana Alexandra. Together with her husband, she would make guest appearances on nationally televised shows such as The Mike Douglas Show, The Reed Ferrell Show and Tattletales. Becoming the first Vietnamese-American member of the Screen Actor's Guild, Tiana Alexandra made her film debut co-starring with James Caan and Robert Duvall in The Killer Elite (1975). She has also starred in a string of made-for-television movies and mini-series which include Pearl (1978), Fly Away Home (1981) and The Three Kings (1987). Tiana Alexandra had also embarked on a short-lived singing career during the early 1980s under the management of Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones.
By the 1990s, Tiana Alexandra had started another career as a filmmaker. Her very first film in which she had written, directed and produced was released in 1992 called From Hollywood to Hanoi. With Oliver Stone as executive producer, the film was an autobiographical documentary of Tiana Alexandra's life and also highlighted several important issues concerning the Vietmam War, bilateral conflicts between Vietnam and the United States and the plight of Amerasians and Vietnamese-Americans. The 78 minutes long documentary included numerous footage with clips of Tiana Alexandra interviewing several key players from the Vietnam War such as General Nguyen Giap Vo, General William Westmoreland, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Le Duc Tho, as well as cameo appearances of celebrity icons within Vietnamese pop culture such as film actors Tran Quang and Tham Thuy Hang and Vietnamese-American pop music singer Tuan Anh. The film was a critical success and had won several awards in the film industry including the Best of the Fest Award at the 1995 Telluride Film Festival. It should also be noted that From Hollywood to Hanoi is the very first American-produced film shot on location in Vietnam since the Fall of Saigon.
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| Tiana Alexandra interviewed by Bryant Gumbel on Today |
Together with Oliver Stone, Tiana Alexandra had co-founded the Indochina Film Arts Foundation in 1993. For more than two decades, the foundation has put together cooperative projects in fine arts, theater, films, educational workshops, lectures and radio broadcasting. She has also lectured at many top universities across the United States including Harvard University, Notre Dame University, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, Stanford University, Columbia University and the University of Southern California. As of 2013, the foundation has shortened its name and now operates simply as Film Arts Foundation.
Since From Hollywood to Hanoi, Tiana Alexandra has worked on a series of other critically acclaimed documentaries and film projects. Most notable was her 2005 documentary, Requiem, which commemorated the 30th Anniversary Reunion of the Associated Press War Photographers and featured Pullitzer Prize winners Peter Arnett and Nick Ut. In 2011. Tiana Alexandra was credited as associate producer of the film, A Dangerous Method, about Swiss psychologist Carl Jung and was based on the Christopher Hampton play, The Talking Cure. On April of 2015, Tiana Alexandra wrapped up production of her next documentary project, The General and Me, which focuses on her relationship with General Nguyen Giap Vo .
Tiana Alexandra was married to Stirling Siliphant, screenwriter most famous for his Academy Award-winning screenplay of In the Heat of the Night (1967), for over 20 years from 1975 until his death on April 26, 1996. Together, they had one child.
Link(s):
50 Most Beautiful Vietnamese Women of All Time
Tiana Alexandra's Official Website
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