Ngoc Giau

Ngoc Giau (1945-    ) is a famous actress of Southern Vietnamese folk opera known as cai luong.  

Born in Saigon as Phong Thi Ngoc Giau, she came from an impoverished family background.  As a young child she had learned to sing by listening to cai luong plays on broadcast radio and joined the Kim Phung Theater Troupe where she worked mostly as an extra to eventually small speaking parts on stage productions in order to supplement the family income.  By age 12, Ngoc Giau and an older brother were recruited by the prestigious Kim Chuong Theater Troupe which enabled her to travel all over South and Central Vietnam performing for live audiences at various playhouse theaters.  In 1958, at the tender age of 13, she was cast as Juliette in the Vietnamese cai luong version of the Shakespearean play, Romeo & Juliette, opposite actor Hung Cuong.  That same year she was introduced by fellow cai luong performer, Minh Chi, whom she had impressed with her singing voice, to the owner of Asia, then one of the most prominent record labels in Saigon.  Shortly thereafter, Ngoc Giau was offered a recording contract with Asia.

Hung Cuong and Ngoc Giau

In 1960, Ngoc Giau won the coveted Thanh Tam Award, South Vietnam's equivalent to a Tony during the 1960s, as best actress for her portrayal of the lead character in the cai luong play, Dieu Thuyen.  Seven years later, she would be honored with a second Thanh Tam Award, a fleet shared only with two other veteran cai luong performers, Thanh Nga and Bach Tuyet.  Ngoc Giau is best known for her portrayals of such roles on the cai luong stage as Ba Huong in Doi Co Luu, Trieu Minh in Co Gai Do Long starring Tấn Tài, as the title role in as Chi Hang in Con Gai Chi Hang, as Hien in Doi Mat Nguoi Xua starring Huu Phuoc, as My Tien in San Khau Ve Khuya starring Thanh Nga and Thanh Duoc, as Nhung in Tuong Cuop Bach Hai Duong starring Dung Thanh Lam and as Thi Lo in Rang Ngoc Con Son starring Minh Vuong.  Ngoc Giau was cast in the role of Mrs. An in the film adaptation of the classic cai luong play, Tinh Lan va Diep, starring Thanh Nga, Thanh Tu and Bach Tuyet.  In 1984 she along with Le Thuy and Minh Vuong went on a successful tour performing for overseas Vietnamese audiences in several European countries.

Ngoc Giau has portrayed numerous roles in plays, television skits and movies in Vietnam.  In 1994, she costarred in the film produced by Phuoc Sang, Em va Michael, with Truong Ngoc Anh, Huynh Anh Tuan and singer/actress Phuong Thao.  In 2004, she was the leading actress in the Vietnamese television comedy mini-series, Lang Hoa Tinh Yeu, costarring Kim Xuan.  Two of her most famous comedic roles on the silver screen have been as Mrs. Hoai in  Khi Dan Ong Co Bau (When a Man Gets Pregnant) (2005), which featured an all-star cast that included Nguyen Phi Hung, Hong Nga, Tan Beo, Truong Ngoc Anh, Bao Quoc, Hong Van and Phuong Thanh and as the mother of the lead character named Thang portrayed by Dan Truong in Vo Lam Truyen Ky (2007), which had also costarred Chi Bao, Hoai Linh, Vu Thu Phuong and Cat Phuong.  In 2011, Ngoc Giau was officially recognized with Vietnam's top artistic award, the honorary title of Nghe Si Nhan Dan, the People's Artist.

Twice married, Ngoc Giau is now a proud grandparent.  From her first marriage, she had a daughter who died at the age of 12 from leukemia.  Her younger daughter now resides in the United States and has a family of her own.  Now in her seventies, Ngoc Giau still continues to perform for live audiences in cai luong stage productions in Vietnam, as well as for overseas Vietnamese communities of the United States, Europe and Australia.