Phung Ha

Phung Ha (1911-2009) was a legendary performer of Southern Vietnamese opera known as cai luong.  Her two most famous roles on the cai luong stage were of Lu Bo and Co Luu in the classic plays, Phung Nghi Dinh and Doi Co Luu, respectively.  The latter had costarred Thanh Nga, Ut Tra On and Hoang Giang.

Phung Ha was born in My Tho, South Vietnam in an affluent household.  Her mother was Vietnamese, while her father was Chinese originally from Canton, China, a city that is now known as Guangzhou.  When she was just 9 years old, her father died unexpectedly.  As her mother had promised to her father on his deathbed, for his burial the family would make a trip out to his hometown in Southern China where he would be laid to rest. Upon their return back to Vietnam, their lives would be changed forever as their land and family home in My Tho had been taken by the very same individuals they had entrusted with prior to leaving on the trip to China.  Phung Ha's once happy and carefree childhood was now replaced with having to take on the adult responsibilities of finding work to supplement the family income.  At the age of 13, due to her family's economic hardship Phung Ha had to quit school altogether and joined her older siblings working as a laborer out in the mine fields.

From early childhood, Phung Ha had always had a deep admiration for Southern Vietnamese traditional opera, cai luong.  A chance meeting with cai luong opera producer Hai Cu while Phung Ha was still in early teenage years would change her life and lead her toward her destiny.  When Hai Cu was forming Tai Dong Ban, a theater company, he casted her as the leading actress opposite leading actor Nam Chau.  Under the guidance of cai luong play director Nguyen Cong Manh, musician Tu Choi and fellow cai luong performer Nam Chau, Phung Ha excelled at her craft and quickly established herself as a famous actress on the cai luong stage.  She made her professional debut in the play, Hoang Phi Ho Quy Chau, with her triumphant portrayal of Gia Thi.  Soon after, Phung Ha would repeat the equivalent level of success as the lead actress in such plays as Thoi Tu Thi The Quan, Moi Tim Ty Can, Anh Hung Nao Tam Mon Nhai, and Khuc Oan Vo Luong.  With Nam Chau as her leading man, audiences instantaneously took notice of their incredible chemistry together on stage.

Just two years since turning professional, Phung Ha together with Nam Chau, Tu Choi and Ba Du developed their own successful theater company, Tran Dac, and worked with reputable "cai luong" play promoter Tran Dac Nghia.  However, their harmonious success would only be short lived as Phung Ha had been romantically involved with both Tu Choi, as well as Nam Chau.  In the end, she chose Tu Choi as the two wedded in 1926.  As expected, the union of Phung Ha and Tu Choi would result in the departure of Nam Chau from the Tran Dac Theater Company.  Their marriage would also end in divorce in 1929.

After divorcing Tu Choi, Phung Ha would come across a new love interest.  Known as Bach Cong Tu, Le Cong Phuoc then became the new man in Phung Ha's life.  An avid fan of cai luong, Bach Cong Tu formed a theater company called Huynh Ky and appointed Phung Ha as the promoter in addition to her duties as the leading actress.  She would tie the knot with Bach Cong Tu shortly thereafter.  Their newly formed theater company would experience unimaginable levels of success, selling out performance after performance throughout the entire country travelling to different cities on a showboat.  Their biggest success came with a play called Giot Mau Chung Tinh where Phung Ha starred alongside lead actor Nam Thien.

Phung Ha at the Paris Peach Talks in 1968

Just like her first marriage, her union with Bach Cong Tu also ended in divorce.  For many years after that Phung Ha was involved in a romantic relationship with wealthy aristocrat Nguyen Buu and was the de facto stepmother to his son, Nguyen Khanh, who would later become president of South Vietnam.  She did give birth to one biological child during her second marriage, but unfortunately that child had died young.  Childless and unmarried for the rest of her later years, Phung Ha occupied herself in her career as well as in her charity work.  In 1958, Phung Ha financed the building of Chua Nghe Si, a retirement home set up for fellow cai luong peformers.  In addition to the stage, Phung Ha also acted on motion pictures.  One of her most popular films was Chieu Ky Niem that had been produced by actress Tham Thuy Hang's own film production company.

On July 5, 2009, Phung Ha passed away at the age of 98.