Don Duong

Đơn Dương (1957-2011) was a famous Vietnamese actor.

Bùi Đơn Dương was born on August 27, 1957 in Đà Lạt, South Vietnam.  After high school, he attended the University of Đà Lạt in hopes of becoming a pharmacist.  While in college, Đơn Dương worked for a pharmaceutical company to support himself.  In 1982, through an introduction by actor Nguyễn Chánh Tín, he landed his first film role in Pho Tượng.  Đơn Dương became one of the top leading men in Vietnamese cinema throughout the 1990s.  Among his film credits include Vùng Trời Cho Chim Câu (1983), Bản Tình Ca (1984), Canh Bạc (1991) starring Thu Hà, for which he was honored with a Vietnamese National Film Festival Award for Best Actor, Phía Sau Cuộc Chiến (1992) starring Diễm My, Dấu Ấn Của Quỷ (1992) starring Ngọc Hiệp and Lê Cung Bắc, who was married to Đơn Dương's older sister, English teacher Bùi Thị Giang, Chuyện Tình Trong Ngõ Hẹp (1993) starring Thanh Quý and Mỹ Duyên, Cỏ Lau (1993) starring Minh Châu, Giữa Dòng (1995) starring Ngọc Hiệp, Bông Sen Vàng (1996) and Chung Cư (1999).  In 1993, Đơn Dương starred in his first overseas production, a Korean film, 머나먼 쏭바강 (Farewell to the River, Vietnamese title:  Tạm Biệt Sông Ba).  In 1996, Đơn Dương starred in the epic television movie, Người Đẹp Tây Đô, alongside an all-star cast including Việt Trinh, Hồng Ánh, Tú Trinh, Kim Xuân, Chi Bảo, Lê Công Tuấn Anh, Kinh Quốc, Lê Tuấn Anh and Thanh Thủy.

It was his role in the first Vietnamese-American produced film, the Sundance Film Festival Award-winning Three Seasons, in 1999, directed by his nephew, Timothy Linh Bùi, and starring Harvey Keitel, that had formally introduced Đơn Dương to movie audiences in the United States.  In 2001, he went to the United States to shoot two Hollywood pictures, Green Dragon (2001) starring Patrick Swayze, Forest Whitaker, Hiệp Thị Lê, Kathleen Lương and Kiều Chinh and We Were Soldiers (2002) starring Mel Gibson and Madeline Stowe.  Upon his return to Vietnam in 2002, Đơn Dương was subjected to severe criticism by government officials for his participation in the two previous Hollywood films that had portrayed the Vietnamese communist military in a negative light.  Đơn Dương was expelled from the Vietnamese Actor's Union, had his passport confiscated and was banned from working as an actor in Vietnam for the next several years.  In 2006, he and his wife along with their two sons emigrated to the United States.  Two years later, Đơn Dương divorced his first wife and married Mỹ Hạnh, a Vietnamese-American businesswoman, owner of Hạnh Phước Cosmetic Surgery Center in Houston, Texas and former Mrs. America Beauty Pageant Titleholder, who was 14 years his senior.  Đơn Dương passed away on July 12, 2011 in San Francisco from a brain hemorrhage.