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Monday, May 16, 2016

Quang Minh

Quang Minh (1959-    ) is a famous Vietnamese comedian.  He is mostly known for being one half of the husband-and-wife comedy pair known as Quang Minh - Hong Dao.

Born as Vo Quang Minh on November 20, 1959 in Go Cong, a district belonging to Tien Giang, South Vietnam, he was educated and raised primarily in Saigon, which later became Ho Chi Minh City.  After graduating from high school, he was accepted into the prestigious Truong Nghe Thuat - San Khau 2, University of Ho Chi Minh City, Academy of Dramatic & Theatrical Arts.  In the mid to late 1980s, Quang Minh was among the leading actors with the Kim Cuong Theater Troupe.  He left his native homeland and took up permanent residence in the United States in 1989.  Quang Minh first resettled in Orange County, California and found work doing voice overs in the Vietnamese language for various films and soap operas originally produced in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Although Hong Dao and Quang Minh had met and dated while back in Vietnam, it was when they had met up again by coincidence here in the United States that the two finally began a serious relationship.  At the time of their reunion in 1994, Quang Minh had just been recently divorced from his first marriage.  Their courtship led to their wedding shortly thereafter followed by the births of their two daughters, Vicky (b. 1996) and Sophia (b. 2002).  While Hong Dao was able to quickly resume her comedic acting career once resettled in the United States, Quang Minh, who had also established himself as a stage actor back in Vietnam, was not blessed with the same kind of luck for many years since leaving his native country.  An actor of diverse capabilities, however, Quang Minh had yet to really find his niche in comedy.  With the encouragement and suggestion from the late musician, Le Uyen Phuong, who had become his close friend as well as mentor, Quang Minh finally zeroed in on his career as a comedic actor.  As he and his wife began performing as a comedy duo act, receptive Vietnamese audiences everywhere just couldn't help but realize their natural chemistry on stage together.  The pair became one of the biggest Vietnamese comedy acts and were invited to perform at major live shows for Vietnamese audiences all over the world.  They have made many appearances on such popular live show video series produced by the most prolific overseas Vietnamese studios such as Thuy Nga, Asia Entertainment and Van Son Entertainment.

Hong Dao and Quang Minh 
In 2010, the couple traveled to Vietnam to star in the comedy feature film, Gia Dinh So Do, along with Van Hiep, Don Nguyen, Nha Phuong and Ngoc Quyen.  Despite the film's blockbuster success, three years later, Quang Minh and Hong Dao would be banned by the Vietnamese government from making any future live performances in Vietnam due to their recent participation in the controversial Asia 73:  Ky Niem 32 Nam Hoat Dong which had carried out allegedly sentiments of anti-communism.  Other performers also included on this list issued by the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam were singers Thanh Tuyen, Tuan Vu and Gia Huy.  

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