Jane March

Jane March (1973-     ) is a British film actress most known for her roles in The Lover (1992) and Color of Night (1994).  Born to a British father and Chinese-Vietnamese mother on March 20, 1973 in London as Jane March Horwood, she began working as a fashion model when she signed with Storm Model Management at the age of 14.  Director Jean-Jacques Annaud had casted her in the lead role for The Lover after seeing her on the cover of Just Seventeen Magazine.

March had already turned 18 prior to shooting for The Lover.  However, controversy had spawned about due to false rumors that the sex scenes involving March and costar Tony Leung Ka-fai were actual and had been filmed while she was still a minor.

After The Lover, Jane March costarred with Bruce Willis in the erotic thriller, Color of Night.  Unlike The Lover, Color of Night was both a commercial and critical failure.

Jane March has continued to appear in films during the last two decades.  Her films include Never Ever (1996), Provocateur (1998), Tarzan and the Lost City (1998), Beauty and the Beast (2003), My Last Five Girlfriends (2009), Clash of the Titans (2010), Will (2011) and Grimm's Snow White (2012).

She was married to film producer Carmine Zozzora from 1993 until 2001.

Link(s):

20 International Celebrities You Didn't Know Are Vietnamese
50 Most Beautiful Vietnamese Women of All Time

Bach Tuyet

Bach Tuyet (1945-     ) is a famous "cai luong" stage and film actress of Vietnam.  Born in Chau Doc, Vietnam, Bach Tuyet experienced the loss of her mother while at the young age of 9.  She first rose to prominence when she landed the lead role in the Kien Giang Theater Company's production of La Tham Chi Hang.  Soon after, Bach Tuyet would win the hearts of audiences in other "cai luong" plays such as Kiep Chong Chung, Suoi Mo Ren Ao Cuoi, Tieng Hat Muong Tenh, Trang The Vuon Thuy and Tan Nuong That.

Hung Cuong and Bach Tuyet

In 1966, she along with fellow "cai luong" performer, Hung Cuong, formed Da Ly Huong Theater Company.  Together with Hung Cuong, the two would become among the most popular acting couples on the "cai luong" stage throughout South Vietnam.

Ut Tra On (Left), Thanh Sang (Center) and Bach Tuyet (Right)
 in the 1989 video adaptation of Tan Nuong That.

Bach Tuyet also had ventured onto film acting.  Prior to 1975, her film acting credits include Nhu Hat Mua Sa (1971) starring Tham Thuy Hang, Nhu Giot Suong Khuya (1972) starring Tran Quang and Doan Chau Mau, the film adaptation of Tinh Lan va Diep (1972) starring Thanh Nga and Ngoc Giau and Con Ma Nha Ho Hua (1973) starring Thanh Tu and Dung Thanh Lam.  









                               


She graduated from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria in 1988 majoring in film and theatrical arts.  In 1995, Bach Tuyet became the first "cai luong" performer to have earned a doctorate degree.  Twice divorced, Bach Tuyet now lives in Ho Chi Minh City.  She is a mother to a grown son who now resides in the United States.

Link(s):

Vietnamese Celebrity Homes Part 8a

Ngo Thanh Van

Ngo Thanh Van (1979-     ) is a famous Vietnamese actress, singer and former model.  She has also been credited as either Veronica Ngo or just by her initials, NTV, on several of her films and audio recordings.

Born in Tra Vinh, Vietnam on February 26, 1979, Ngo Thanh Van moved to Norway at the age of 10. When she was 20, she returned to Vietnam to enter a beauty pageant put together by Woman's World Magazine where she placed as second runner up.  It was there in Vietnam where she launched her successful modeling career.  This would be followed by her careers as a film actress, as well as a singer.

Her starring roles in films include Saigon Love Story (2005), 2 in 1 (2006), Dong Mau Anh Hung (The Rebel) (2007), Ngoi Nha Bi An /  Suoi Oan On ( The Haunted House) (2007), Clash (2009), Ngoc Vien Dong (Pearls of the Far East) (2011) House in the Alley (2012) Lua Phat (Once Upon a Time) (2013) with Dustin Nguyen, Ngày Nảy Ngày Nay (2015), Siêu Trộm (2016) and Tấm Cám: Chuyện Chưa Kể (2016) starring Ninh Duong Lan Ngoc, Isaac, Ngoc Trai, Huu Chau, Ngoc Giau and Hieu Hien.  In many of her films, Ngo Thanh Van starred alongside leading actor, Johnny Tri Nguyen.  In 2007, it was revealed that she had been having a relationship with her co-star which had ended his marriage with singer, Cathy Viet Thi.  That same year, Ngo Thanh Van was awarded as Best Actress at the Vietnam Film Festival.

Ngo Thanh Van has recorded a total of 5 solo studio albums.  They consist of The Gioi Tro Choi (2003), Bi An Vang Trang (2004), My Way (2005), Studio 68 (2008) and Nuoc Mat Thien Than (2008).  In 2006, she signed an exclusive contract to appear on the popular overseas music video live show series produced by Van Son Entertainment.  In 2009, Ngo Thanh Van set up her own talent management company, VAA.  Recently she had been voted by World Actuality Magazine as one of the world's 10 most beautiful women.

Link(s):

• 20 Hottest Viet Celebs of 2017
• Vietnamese Celebrity Homes Part 3
• 30 Sexiest Vietnamese Celebs of 2016
• 50 Most Beautiful Vietnamese Women of All Time
• Ngo Thanh Van Facebook Page

Tran Anh Hung

Tran Anh Hung (1962-     ) is a world renowned French filmmaker originally from Vietnam.  He was born in Da Nang, Central Vietnam.  After the Fall of Saigon, Tran Anh Hung while at the age of 12 along with his family left their homeland to resettle as refugees in Paris, France.

Tran Anh Hung welcomed the onset of his teenage years in Paris, France where he would later graduate from high school, as well as further his studies at Louis Lumière College, one of the most prestigious French institutions of higher education which specialized in film studies.  For his graduation film project, he directed and wrote a short film production, Nguoi Thieu Nu Nam Xuong.  Tran Anh Hung's making of this short film while still a student filmmaker was based on an an ancient Vietnamese folkloric tale, Truyen Ky Man Luc.  

Poster for The Scent of Green Papaya (1993)

The Scent of Green Papaya, released in 1993, would serve as the true turning point in his career as a filmmaker.  Focused on Vietnamese civilization and modern society during the French colonial days prior to the years ravaged by war, the film was shot entirely in France yet from beginning to end its screenplay was written and performed in the Vietnamese language.  Like his short film graduation project, The Scent of Green Papaya was directed and written by Tran Anh Hung.  It won two of the most coveted prize awards at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, the Camèra d'Or and the Youth French Film Award.  Tran Anh Hung also took home France's other most prestigious film award, a César, which is often referred to as the French equivalent of an Oscar, as Best Debut Filmwork that year. Outside of France, The Scent of Green Papaya would also be given recognition of excellence in several of the world's most developed cinema industries and acclaimed film awards such as the Sutherland Trophy from the British Film Institute and a nomination for an Academy Award as an entry in the category of best foreign language film.  The Oscar nod would also be Vietnam's first and only to date.  The Scent of Green Papaya was both a critical, as well as a commercial success.  It generated a total of $1.7 million USD from worldwide box office sales.  With a total cost in production much lower than the film's generated total gross revenue, The Scent of Green Papaya turned out to be quite profitable.

Tran Anh Hung and Tran Nu Yen Khe

The commercial success of The Scent of Green Papaya allowed Tran Anh Hung to make Cyclo, a film released in 1995 with a much larger production budget depicting the struggles in the lives of laborers in modern day Ho Chi Minh City.  Prominent Hong Kong film actor, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, would star in the film. A soundtrack for this film would also be made with the collaboration of Vietnamese musician, Ton That Tiet, which featured the song, Creep, by Radiohead, as well as a Vietnamese song sung by Vietnamese pop music diva, Thanh Lam.  Cyclo would go on to win the coveted Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1995.   Tran Anh Hung released his third film of his Vietnam trilogy. The Vertical Ray of the Sun, in 2000.

His last two films, I Come with the Rain (2009) and Norwegian Wood (2010), were projects that did not involve storylines pertaining to with Vietnamese culture.  His films have received critical praise from film critics worldwide.  Tran Anh Hung is married to actress, Tran Nu Yen Khe, who had starred in all three previous films in his Vietnam Trilogy.  The couple live in Paris with their two children.  

Ai Van

Ai Van (1954-    ) is a famous singer of Vietnamese popular music and former film actress in Hanoi.  Born to a show business family as the twelfth eldest out of fourteen children, Ai Van's mother was Ai Lien, a famous Northern Vietnamese singer, and her father was Ha Quang Dinh, a film producer and owner of Viet Film, one of Hanoi's most prolific film studios.  Her two younger sisters, Ai Thanh and Ai Xuan, would also grow up to become established singers of Vietnam. 

At the age of 15, Ai Van enrolled at Nhac Vien Hanoi, a nationally acclaimed school of music and performing arts.  It was at Nhac Vien Hanoi that she would be recruited by Doan Ca Mua Nhac Nhe Trung Uong, one of Vietnam's most prestigious music and dance companies.  While in Vietnam, Ai Van had established herself both as a singer and film actress.  In 1970, she starred in the acclaimed film, Chi Dung, which gained her national fame.  She would go on to act on two other films, Chu Re Di Dau and Ban Danh Sach Mat, both of which were supporting roles.  Although her filmworks were well received by both audiences and film critics, Ai Van found her career in the film industry to be dissatisfying.  Unable to find suitable film roles, Ai Van instead focused primarily on her singing career.  She had her greatest success in her music career while in Hanoi with her vocal interpretations of the song, Trieu Bong Hong.  Another popular song of Ai Van's, Bai Ca Xay Dung, had won her a best vocals performance prize award at the Dresden International Music Festival held in Hanoi. 

In 1990, Doan Ca Mua Nhac Nhe Trung Uong sponsored Ai Van to study abroad relocating to Germany.  While in Berlin, she would be approached by Thuy Nga Paris, the most prolific Vietnamese music production label based outside of Vietnam.  From her debut appearance on the Paris By Night stage as a solo musical performer followed by her duets with Elvis Phuong, Ai Van instantly won the hearts of Thuy Nga Paris' viewer audiences with her unique, well-polished style of performing with her authentic vocal interpretations of Northern Vietnamese folk songs along with her most obvious attribute, her striking physical beauty.  Soon after, Thuy Nga Paris released her first overseas produced solo studio album, Ngay Ay Xa Nhau, which featured the track, Em Di Chua Huong, that would become known to many of her fans as Ai Van's signature song.  Throughout the rest of the 1990s decade, Ai Van would enjoy a long tenure with Thuy Nga Paris as one of the most popular performers on the Paris By Night live show music video series.  She has recorded duets with various other artists including Duy Quang, Huong Lan, Thai Chau, Nguyen Hung, Thai Hien, Trinh Nam Son and Anh Dung.

Ai Van ended her professional association with Thuy Nga Paris in 2000 and went on to make an appearance on video with Asia Productions.  In 2002, since leaving Vietnam Ai Van returned to Hanoi to make her first live show performance there in over a decade.  A breast cancer survivor, she currently resides in San Jose, California and is on her third marriage.  She had been previously married to pantomime artist, Dang Duc, while still in Vietnam and to another fellow musical performer, Tran Binh, during her years spent in Germany.  Ai Van is a mother of two children.

Link(s):

50 Most Beautiful Vietnamese Women of All Time

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.

Thanh Lam

Thanh Lam (1969-     ) along with Tran Thu Ha, My Linh and Hong Nhung are among the four divas of Vietnamese popular music in Vietnam today.  Thanh Lam was born in Hanoi to a musical family.  At the age of 9, Thanh Lam enrolled at Nhac Vien Hanoi to study vocals and would later appear frequently on Tieng Noi Viet Nam, a nationally broadcasted radio program in Vietnam.  In 1989, Thanh Lam won the coveted prize as best vocals performance at the Lahavan Music Festival held in Havana, Cuba.

Since the 1990s, Thanh Lam has been among the most popular female singers of Vietnam.  She has traveled all around the world performing for Vietnamese audiences.  Among her most popular songs include Chia Tay Tinh Dau, Khoanh Khac, Em va Toi, Hat Voi Chu Ve Con, Ben Em La Bien Rong, Chieu Xuan, La Thu and Tra No Tinh Xa.  Thanh Lam has recorded duet studio albums with Tran Thu Ha, Hong Nhung, Bang Kieu, Dam Vinh Hung, Duy Quang and Lam Truong.

From 1994 until 2004, she was married to composer Quoc Trung.  Together, they are parents to three children.  Thanh Lam has been awarded the honorary title, Nghe Si Uu Tu (Meritorious Artist), in her homeland.

Link(s):

Another 50 Most Beautiful Vietnamese Women of All Time

Anh Duong

Anh Duong (1960-     ) is a former fashion model turned painter and actress.  Born in Bordeaux, France to a Spanish mother and Vietnamese father, Anh Duong started out as a ballet dancer in Paris.  She was discovered by photographer David Seidner who launched her modeling career when he featured her alongside established model Tina Chow on ads for Yves Saint Laurent in the 1980s.  Soon after she modeled for runways for world top fashion designers such as Emanuel Ungaro, John Galliano, Yohji Yamamoto, Moschino, Christian Dior, Donna Karan, Karl Lagerfeld, Geoffrey Beene, and became the favorite muse of designer Christian Lacroix.  Anh Duong has been featured on editorials for Vogue, Elle and Harper's Bazaar.  Ivana Trump even commented on Vogue magazine once noticing Anh Duong for having the best skin she had ever seen.

In 1988, Anh Duong relocated to New York City and embarked on a new career as a painter under the wings of former boyfriend Julian Schnabel.  It was there she furthered her modeling career appearing on ad campaigns for The Gap, J Crew and Banana Republic.  As a film actress, Anh Duong started out with smaller roles in several Hollywood films such as The Mambo Kings (1992), Scent of a Woman (1992) and My Best Friend's Wedding (1997).  She has also landed meatier roles in a series of independent films such as I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) starring Lili Taylor, Jared Harris and Martha Plimpton, High Art (1998) starring Radha Mitchell, Ally Sheedy and Patricia Clarkson, Appropriate Behavior (2014) starring Desiree Akhavan and Rebecca Henderson, Welcome to New York (2014) starring Gérard Depardieu and Jacqueline Bisset and Creative Control (2015) starring Benjamin Dickinson and Nora Zehetner.  Anh Duong has also costarred in a trilogy of French-language films written and directed by Laetitia Masson including Love Me (2000) with Sandrine Kiberlain and Johnny Hallyday and GHB:  To Be or Not to Be (2014) with Marina Hands and Élodie Bouchez. 

Anh Duong's paintings have been said by critics to convey a signature style often compared with that of the late Frida Kahlo.  Her artwork was first given a museum exhibition in 1997 at P.M.M.K., Provincial Museum of Modern Art, in Ostende, Belgium.   A book about her artwork, Anh Duong (Self) Portraits, was published in 2001.  She was awarded the Veuve Cliquot Tribute to Inspiring Women Award in 2011.  Her portraits have been commissioned by collectors such as Bruno Bischofberger, Diane Von Furstenburg, Aby Rosen, Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis, Simon de Pury, Natalia Vodianova and Domenico Dolce.

From 2006 until 2008, Anh Duong was married to architect and heir Barton Hubbard Quillen.  She has been romantically linked previously with Julian Schnabel and auction house owner Simon de Pury.  



Link(s):

50 Most Beautiful Vietnamese Women of All Time
Anh Duong Official Website