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Monday, December 21, 2015

20/20 Viet Celebs Featured Next.... Total of 200

These 20 Viet Celebs to be featured next will bring our total of profiles to 200.  That's a pretty impressive amount in just a little over a year since our inception.

Viet Celebs of Pre-'75 Saigon:


Phuong Hong Que:  Singer 

Phuong Hong Ngoc:  Actress

Ngoc Duc:  Actor

Thanh Mai: Singer and Actress

Quoc Dung:  Musician, Songwriter and Actor

Overseas Vietnamese Celebs Since 1975:


The Son: Singer

Nhu Loan:  Singer

Henry Chuc:  Singer

Lilian: One of the Pioneer Vietnamese-American Singers of Dance and Hip Hop Music,
Amerasian of German-American and Vietnamese Descent 

Randy:  Vietnamese-American Singer and Songwriter,
Amerasian of Vietnamese and African-American Descent 


International Celebrities of Vietnamese Descent: 


Tom Vu:  1980s Infomercial Star, Vietnamese-American Self-Made Millionaire,
Real Estate Mogul, Author, Lecturer, World Champion Professional Poker Player

Quynh Anh:  Belgian Singer of Vietnamese Origin
Who First Rose to Fame With Her Hit Song, Bonjour Vietnam

Michelle Banzer:  Miss Kentucky USA 2007 and American Fashion Model
of Vietnamese, Chinese, Mongolian, Cherokee, Russian, German and Irish Descent
Axel Tony:  French Pop Singer
of Cameroonian, Martinique and Vietnamese Descent

Kathleen Luong:  Vietnamese-American Film Actress
and Former Model


Celebrities of Present Day Vietnam:  





Ly Nha Ky:  Vietnamese Model and Film Actress

Vu Thu Phuong:  Vietnamese Model and Film Actress

Truong Quynh Anh:  Vietnamese Pop Singer and Film Actress

Tuan Hung:  Vietnamese Singer

Viet Trinh:  Veteran Actress of Vietnamese Film and Television

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Cat Phuong

Cat Phuong (1970-    ) is a famous Vietnamese actress of stage, television and film.

Born on May 15, 1970 in Sa Dec, South Vietnam, Cat Phuong and her father moved to Ho Chi Minh City when she was 10 years old.  After graduating from high school, she was accepted into the University of Theater and Films in Ho Chi Minh City.  Upon graduating from college, she began to pursue her career as an actress of stage and television in the 1990s.  It was then she became roommates and formed close friendships with two of her former classmates, Ly Hai and Minh Nhi, whom would also become major stars in the Vietnamese entertainment industry.  In 1994, she landed a supporting role in the film, Hải Đường Trắng, which starred Lê Tuấn AnhY Phụng and the late Lê Công Tuấn Anh.  Three years later, Cat Phuong had a supporting role in the highly acclaimed television mini-series, Dat Phuong Nam, which starred Hung Thuan, Thanh Dien and Kieu Oanh.  She has also starred in numerous comedy skits on stage and television.

Cat Phuong has twice been honored with a Mai Vang Award, Vietnam's equivalent to a Tony, for best actress for her portrayals as Thi No in the play, Chi Pheo, in 2001 and as Nuong in the play, Canh Dong Bat Tan, in 2010.  In 2006, she acted alongside close friend, singer/actor Ly Hai, in his video film production series, Tron Doi Ben Em 7.  In 2007, she joined an all-star cast which included Dan Truong, Hoai Linh, Chi Bao, Vu Thu Phuong, Bao Quoc and Ngoc Giau in the blockbuster comedy film, Vo Lam Truyen Ky.  In 2011, Cat Phuong had a supporting role in Chiec Giuong Ngan Doi starring Nguyen Phi Hung, Ly Nha Ky and Tam Tit.  The following year, she costarred with Ngo Kien Huy and Ngoc Diep in Nang Men Chang Bong, a comedy which focused on the topic of homosexuality, a rarity among films made in Vietnam.  Her other films have included Lệ Phí Tình Yêu (2012) costarring Huy Khanh, Minh Hang and the late Minh ThuanBí Mật Lại Bị Mất (2014) costarring Ly Hai, Nhat Kim Anh, Tran Thanh and Phi Thanh Van and Trót Yêu (2015) costarring Chau Tho, Viet Trinh and Hieu Hien.  

From 2004 until 2006, she was married to actor Thai Hoa.  During their brief marriage, the couple had one child, a son named Thien Minh.
Cat Phuong photographed with son, Thien Minh, on January of 2015

Link(s):

Cat Phuong on Facebook

Cung Le

Cung Le (1972-    ) is a former International Kickboxing Federation Lightweight World Champion, mixed martial artist and actor.

Born on May 25, 1972 in Saigon, South Vietnam, he and his mother fled Vietnam by helicopter one week prior to the Fall of Saigon.  They eventually settled in San Jose, California.  Cung Le was raised in a single parent household since his father had remained in Vietnam where he was imprisoned for many years by the communist regime after 1975.  At the age of 10, his mother enrolled him in Tae Kwon Do classes.  From the age of 14, he began competing in wrestling.  While at West Valley College in Saratoga, California, he won the 1990 California Junior College State Championship in the 158 pound weight class.  At 19, he began training in Sanshou and kickboxing.  He went on to hold a 17-0 professional kickboxing record and became a three-time professional kickboxing world champion.

As a mixed martial artist, Cung Le won in the following competitions; Strikeforce Middleweight Championship, Fight of the Night and Knockout of the Night.  He was recognized by Inside MMA with the 2008 Fight of the Year Bazzie Award versus Frank Shamrock and by MMAFighting.com with the 2012 Knockout of the Year versus Rich Franklin.  On January 20, 2015, Cung Le announced his retirement from MMA.

In addition to his successful career as a professional athlete, Cung Le has also enjoyed a successful career in films.  He made his acting debut in Tekken (2009), an American martial arts film.  Cung Le's other films include Pandorum (2009), Fighting (2009), Bodyguards and Assassins (2009), Dragon Eyes (2012), The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) and Puncture Wounds (2014).  In 2010, he appeared on the popular Vietnamese-American music video series produced by Thuy Nga, Paris By Night 99 - Toi La Nguoi Viet Nam, where he was interviewed by famous Vietnamese-American personality, Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen.

Cung Le is a father of three children.  His two oldest children were from his first marriage.  Cung Le remarried in 2009 and became a father for the third time the following year.

Link(s):

Cung Le Official Website

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Kim Anh

Kim Anh (1953-    ) is a popular overseas Chinese-Vietnamese singer who is best known for her signature rendition of Teresa Teng's classic love ballad, Qian Yan Wan Yu (A Thousand Words), known to Vietnamese music lovers as Mua Thu La Bay, in both Mandarin and Vietnamese.

Born as Mach Kim Anh on September 4, 1953 in Dong Thap, a province of South Vietnam located in the Mekong Delta region near the Cambodian border, to parents of Hoa descent, she grew up in a bilingual household speaking both Vietnamese and Cantonese.  In school, Kim Anh excelled academically.  In 1969, she received a scholarship that enabled her to study abroad in Washington, D.C. as an accounting major.

Kim Anh began her career as a professional singer for the Vietnamese community in the United States during the year of 1975 after she was approached by the owner of a Chinese restaurant called Empress in Washington, D.C., an American of Chinese descent who was in need of her interpretorial assistance with members of a Vietnamese band he had just hired.  After a few times singing with the band during open mic, she would be asked to become their lead vocalist.  For the next couple of years, Kim Anh would become the toast of the town in the Vietnamese community in Washington, D.C. as she enchanted audiences with her powerful vocals and smooth renditions of popular songs in Vietnamese, Chinese and English.  Despite the sizable following she had been able to acquire in a relatively short period of time, Kim Anh's road to fame would not be without its challenges.

After having achieved such notoriety as a local performer in the Vietnamese community of Washington, D.C., Kim Anh was invited to perform at the 1977 Summer Vietnamese Festival of Performing Arts, Dai Nhac Hoi He '77, that had been organized by veteran actress of South Vietnamese cinema, Tuy Hong.  At the festival, Kim Anh would deliver an unforgettable performance of Qian Yan Wan Yu (A Thousand Words) in Mandarin and left the audience that was 1,000 strong in attendance with a lasting impression.  Within weeks after her triumphant performance which formally had introduced her to the Vietnamese-American community on a grander scale, Kim Anh was involved in a near fatal automobile accident.  Wheelchair bound for nearly two years, her rehabilitation would be a slow and painful process.  According to Kim Anh, this was when she began her addiction with drugs that had been prescribed to her by doctors for pain treatment.

In 1982, Kim Anh recorded her first studio solo album entitled Mua Thu La Bay.  The title track was a cover of the theme song of The Young Ones, a Taiwanese romance film in 1972 starring Chen Chen that was extremely popular with movie audiences of South Vietnam.  Other memorable tracks recorded on the album included Le Da written by Tran Trinh, Diem Xua written by Trinh Cong Son, Xin Con Goi Ten Nhau written by Truong Sa and Nua Dem Ngoai Pho written by Truc Phuong.  The album would become one of the all time bestsellers in the history of the overseas Vietnamese music industry.

The overwhelming success of Mua Thu La Bay instantly turned Kim Anh into a star and made her one of the busiest overseas Vietnamese singers during the 1980s and the 1990s.  She performed at live shows for overseas Vietnamese communities all over the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia and collaborated with numerous music production labels such as Da Lan, Doi Magazine, Truong Thanh, Thanh Lan, Lang Van, Asia Productions and Thuy Nga Paris.  She continued to release a series of solo studio albums and also recorded a duet album with Duy Quang, Mat Le Nguoi Tinh, for the Thanh Lan label released in 1984.  Her recording of Toc Em Chua Ua Nang He written by Pham Manh Cuong was the featured song during the opening credits of volume 3 of the popular video series, Paris By Night, in 1986.  Three years later, Kim Anh made her debut performance on the Paris By Night stage with Tam Hon Co Don written by Anh Bang.  Before Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen and Nguyen Ngoc Ngan became the permanent hosts of Paris By Night, Kim Anh and Tran Quoc Bao were the first returning hosts of the popular video series as the pair had hosted volume 15 in 1991 and volume 18 in 1992.  Other memorable appearances by Kim Anh on the Paris By Night stage included her performances of Mua Thu Yeu Duong, Gio Nay Anh O Dau and Tinh Ca Mua He.  In the 2000s, she made several well received appearances on the popular video series produced by Asia Productions which included duet performances with Tuan Vu, Thien Kim and most notably, Thai Doanh Doanh, in a rendition of her signature song, Mua Thu La Bay.  In 1994, Kim Anh released her solo music videotape entitled Duong Xua Loi Cu which consisted of music videos to several of her recorded songs filmed in Vietnam.  Among her other popular recorded songs include Sao Danh Xa Em, Canh Hong Trung Quoc and Nang Chieu.  It should be noted that Kim Anh was the very first overseas Vietnamese singer to have made an impact in Vietnamese music as she had risen to fame years before the likes of Ngoc Lan, Kieu Nga and Nhu Mai had come along.  

Kim Anh Looking Fabulous at 62
In recent years, Kim Anh has spent most of her time living and working in Vietnam.  Now in her sixties, she has long overcome her previous battle with drug addiction and continues a fast paced schedule of nightly performances at various venues in Ho Chi Minh City along with concert tours all over Vietnam.  Kim Anh is a mother of two grown sons.  Her oldest son is from her first marriage back in the early 1970s and her youngest son was born in Paris from her second marriage during the 1980s.  

20 International Celebrities You Didn't Know Are Vietnamese

Here are twenty internationally known celebrities that many folks have no idea are Vietnamese.  Many of these celebrities are mixed with Vietnamese descent and may not appear to look Vietnamese or even Asian at all.  Others, due to their professional stage names which don't include traditionally Vietnamese surnames such as Nguyen or Tran, are often mistaken to be of other Asian races.  But indeed they are all Vietnamese.

Link(s):


1.  Axel Tony:  French Pop Singer
of Cameroonian, Martinique and Vietnamese Descent 

2. Dany Carrel:  Legendary French Cinema Actress
of French and Vietnamese Descent 

3. Danny Graves:  American Professional Baseball Player
of Vietnamese and Anglo-American Descent 

4. Diane Fleri:  Italian Cinema and Television Actress
of Estonian and Vietnamese Descent 

5. Fabien Corbineau:  South Korean Cinema and Television Actor, Male Model
of French and Vietnamese Descent 

6. France Nuyen:  Legendary Hollywood Actress
of French and Vietnamese Descent 

7. Isild Le Besco:  French Cinema Actress, Director and Screenwriter
of Breton, Vietnamese, French and Algerian Descent

8. Jane March:  British Film Actress
of Vietnamese, Chinese, British and Spanish Descent 

9. James Duval:  Hollywood Film Actor
of Vietnamese, French, Irish and Native-American Descent

10. Jay Manalo:  Filipino Film and Television Actor
of Vietnamese and Filipino Descent

11. Lance Krall:  American Television Actor, Comedian and Screenwriter
of Vietnamese and Anglo-American Descent

12. Leslie:  French Pop Singer
of French, Vietnamese and Polynesian Descent

13. Maggie Q:  Hollywood and Hong Kong Film Actress
of Vietnamese, Irish and Polish Descent 

14. Maiwenn:  French Cinema Actress, Director and Screenwriter
of French, Breton, Vietnamese and Algerian Descent 

15. Michelle Banzer:  Fashion Model and Miss Kentucky USA 2007
of Vietnamese, Chinese, Mongolian, Russian, German, Cherokee and Irish Descent 

16. Nai Bonet:  Hollywood B Movie Actress and Famous Belly Dancer
of French and Vietnamese Descent

17. Olivia Munn: American Actress and Television Personality
of Chinese-Vietnamese and Anglo-American Descent

18. Ray Lui:  Hong Kong Film and Television Actor
of Hoa Descent 

19. Tyga:  American Rap Artist
of Vietnamese, Jamaican and African-American Descent 

20. Yohan Cabaye:  French Professional Rugby Player
of French and Vietnamese Descent 

Friday, December 11, 2015

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.