Kim Tuyen

Kim Tuyen (1947-    ) is a famous actress of Southern Vietnamese folk opera known as cai luong and Vietnamese pop singer.

Born as Nguyen Kim Tuyen on November 1, 1948 in Saigon, she grew up in a middle-class family.  Her father was a businessman and her mother was Bich Lien, a former Southern Vietnamese folk opera actress who had retired from the stage when she had gotten married.  At the age of 10, Kim Tuyen and her parents moved to Vinh Binh Province (now renamed as Tra Vinh Province) located in the Mekong Delta where her father would run a retail store.  Four years later, Kim Tuyen would be introduced to Ut Tra On and Hoang Giang, the two principal performers of the Thong Nhat Folk Opera Theater Troupe who were also former colleagues of her mother, at a live performance of Tieng Hat Muon Tenh in Vinh Binh Province.  Ut Tra On had confided in her mother that the production was in need of a young child actress to fill the role of Hoang Giang's daughter in the play.  Bich Lien then suggested her daughter and took home the screenplay for Kim Tuyen to learn.  The following day Kim Tuyen returned with her mother for the audition.  Both Ut Tra On and Hoang Giang were so impressed with her vocals that they immediately offered her a contract to join the cast for 10,000VND.  For the next several months, Kim Tuyen would tour all over South Vietnam as the youngest cast member of the Thong Nhat Folk Opera Theater Troupe earning the audience's overwhelming approval with her flawless performances in Tieng Hat Muon Tenh, Dung Giet Con Toi and Dep Duyen Chua Thap.  

In 1964, Kim Tuyen was recruited by the Thuy Nga Folk Opera Theater Troupe as the lead actress replacing Anh Hong where she would star in Khi Hoa Anh Dao No and Nguu Lang Chuc Nu.  The following year Kim Tuyen signed on with the prestigious Kim Chung Theater Troupe when they offered her a lucrative contract that would be twice the amount of her salary from Thuy Nga.  During her 4 year tenure with Kim Chung Theater Troupe, she performed at the legendary Olympic Theater in Saigon as the lead actress opposite Hung Cuong in such plays like Nguoi Dep Lieu Trai and Kieu Hoa Lac Loi.  That same year, she and Hung Cuong were both selected to perform at the annual Thai Luong Festival in Vientiane, Laos.  Kim Tuyen starred as the leading lady opposite some of the top actors of the cai luong stage during this period such as Minh Phung, Ut Hau and Phuong Binh.

At the peak of her popularity in Southern Vietnamese folk opera, Kim Tuyen decided to leave the cai luong stage in 1968 so that she could concentrate on an acting career in television.  In the years following up to the Fall of Saigon, Kim Tuyen would become one of South Vietnam's most popular television actresses.  Among her acting credits on the small screen include televised adaptations of plays and made-for-television movies featured on channel 9 Dai Truyen Hinh Viet Nam such as Manh Le Quan, So Van Cuu Gia, Bao Cong Xu An Tran The My, Men Ruou Saké, Nang Som Mua Chieu and Cam Bay Do Thanh in which she starred opposite the likes of leading actors Thanh Duoc and Thanh Sang.  In 1969, Kim Tuyen performed in Paris, France upon the invitation of the Kim Chung Theater Troupe.  For two years in a row, Kim Tuyen was invited back to perform at the Thai Luong Festival in Vientiane, Laos in 1972 and in 1973.

For many years while in Saigon, Kim Tuyen successfully juggled two careers as a television actress by day and cabaret singer of Vietnamese pop music by night.  Her days were spent at the Dai Truyen Hinh Viet Nam studio while her nights were spent performing at various major cabarets in Saigon such as Victoria, Moulin Rouge, Hong Ta, Dong Phat, Bien Hoa Club and Nha Trang Hotel billed under the name Linh Trang.  Among the most requested songs in Kim Tuyen's repertoire for her nightclub act included Sang Ngang written by Do Le, Lay Troi Con Duoc Binh Yen written by Lam Phuong and Tinh Dau Tinh Cuoi written by Nhat Truong.

After the Fall of Saigon, Kim Tuyen remained in Vietnam for five difficult years.  In 1980, she left her native homeland to begin a new life in the United States resettling in Southern California.  Immediately she resumed her career upon the invitation of actress Tuy Hong to go on tour performing for overseas Vietnamese audiences in various cities across the United States alongside other artists such as Hung Cuong, Mai Le Huyen, La Thoai Tan, Truc Mai and Truong Hai.  Kim Tuyen collaborated with Thanh Lan, then the most prominent overseas Vietnamese production label, starring in a series of video adaptations of classic cai luong plays such as Chieu Quan Cong Ho, Doi Co Huong, Nguoi Dep Bach Hoa Thon, Tuong Cuop Bach Hai Duong, Tam Long Cua Bien, Quan Vuong va Thiep and Nuoc Mat Nguoi Di with Dung Thanh Lam.  She also starred in the video adaptation remake of a Kim Cuong drama, Duoi Hai Mau Ao.  

Due to the waning popularity of cai luong during the 1980s, Kim Tuyen shifted her focus to Vietnamese pop music.  She recorded for several major overseas Vietnamese music production labels like Thanh Lan, Da Lan and Thuy Anh.  In the mid 1980s she formed her own production label and released a pair of solo studio albums, Tieng Hat Kim Tuyen 1:  Tinh Thien Thu (1985) and Tieng Hat Kim Tuyen 2:  Gui Anh Chut Nang (1987).  Among her most popular recorded songs include Tim Anh written by Hoang Thi Tho, Tieng Ca U Hoai written by Anh Bang and a duet with Duy Khanh, Tinh Doi written by Vu Chuong and Minh Ky.  In 1988, Kim Tuyen performed alongside Thanh Thuy and Le Uyen on a successful concert tour for the overseas Vietnamese community in Japan.  In 1990, she appeared on Thuy Nga's Paris By Night Volume 11 performing Tinh Yeu Tra Lai Trang Sao written by Le Dinh.

Kim Tuyen was once formerly married to fellow cai luong performer Hoai Truc Phuong during the 1970s and is a mother of two grown children.  Her daughter is singer Hoang Lan.  Happily remarried since 1986, Kim Tuyen resides in San Diego, California.