Kim Ngoc

Kim Ngọc (1943-2011) was a famous comedic actress and veteran performer of Southern Vietnamese folk opera known as "cải lương".

Born as Lê Thị Kim Ngọc in the Thủ Đức district of Saigon, South Vietnam in 1943, she was the 2nd eldest in a family of 14 children.  Her parents ran a mini butcher shop kiosk located inside Giồng Ông Tố marketplace in Saigon.  At the age of 14, she was taken under the wings of Minh Thành, who was the local barber that had a knack for singing "vọng cổ", a style of Southern Vietnamese folk opera, as his protegée.  Kim Ngoc was first recruited into the Tây Đô Theater Troupe when she was 15.  After that she performed for many other theater troupes such as Trùng Dương, Tuấn Kiệt, Dạ Lý Hương, Minh Bằng, Bạch Tuyết - Hùng Cường, Dạ Lý Hương and Trần Hữu Trang.  Among her most popular "cải lương" roles were as Bao Tích Nhược in Anh Hùng Xạ Điêu, as Thu Sương in Hoa Mộc Lan Tùng Chinh with Thanh Nga, as Kim Liên in Kiều Nguyệt Nga with Phượng Liên, as Mai Đình in Hàn Mặc Tử with Hùng Cường and her signature role as Chu Chỉ Nhược in Cô Gái Đồ Long with Tấn Tài.  In 1972, Kim Ngọc had a supporting role in the film, Người Cô Đơn, produced and directed by Hoàng Thi Thơ and starred Thanh Nga, Vân Hùng, Túy Hoa, Ngọc Đức, Huy Khanh and Hoàng Long.  For two consecutive years, Kim Ngọc was honored with a Kim Khánh award from Trắng Đen Magazine for her work as an actress on the Southern Vietnamese folk opera stage.

After the Fall of Saigon, like many other performers Kim Ngọc struggled for several years due to certain restrictions implemented by the new communist regime in performing arts.  In the 1980s, she reemerged as a comedic actress winning the role of the wise-cracking Cô Tư "Xả Láng" in the popular television sitcom, Trong Nhà Ngoài Phố, with actor Quốc Hòa.  This introduced Kim Ngọc to a whole new fan base in comedy.  She performed nightly at various venues around Ho Chi Minh City and also took her comedy act together with Tấn Beo, Tấn Bo and Hiếu Hiền, her youngest son, on tour in towns and cities all over Vietnam.  In 1989, Kim Ngọc returned to her "cải lương" roots costarring alongside Bạch Tuyết, Thanh Sang and Út Trà Ôn in the video adaptation of the classic play, Tần Nương Thất.  In 2005, she had a supporting role in the blockbuster comedy movie produced by Phước Sang, Khi Đàn Ông Có Bầu, which featured an all-star cast including Nguyễn Phi Hùng, Kim Thư, Hồng Nga, Việt Anh, Trương Ngọc Ánh, Tấn Beo, Bảo Quốc, Ngọc Giàu, Hồng Vân, Quyền Linh, Thúy Nga, Phương Thanh and Nguyễn Chánh Tín.  In 2010, she had a small part in
Công Chúa Teen và Ngũ Hổ Tướng starring Bảo Thy, Yến Trang and Hoài Linh.

Kim Ngọc was twice married and a mother of three.  Her first marriage to fellow Southern Vietnamese folk opera actor Hoàng Long during the early 1970s which produced two children, a son named Hoàng Phương and a daughter named Kim Ngân, ended in divorce.  After 1975, Hoàng Long took their son, Hoàng Phương, along with him when he fled Vietnam to resettle in Paris, France.  In 1977, Kim Ngọc met and married fellow performer Đức Lang.  That same year, she gave birth to her their son, comedic actor Hiếu Hiền.  In the early 1990s, she was reunited with her eldest son, Hoàng Phương, on "one of the happiest days of her life" when she traveled to France to attend his wedding.  On January 16, 2011, Kim Ngọc passed away from an apparent heart attack at her home in the Bình Chánh district of Ho Chi Minh City.