30 Facts About Kieu Chinh

Kieu Chinh is a Vietnamese-American actress, producer, humanitarian, lecturer and philanthropist.

Dame Kieu Chinh was born on September 3,1937, in Hanoi with the real name Nguyen Thi Kieu Chinh.

Kieu Chinh's father urged her to board an aircraft and travel to the South, while he remained in the North to search for her older brother, promising to reunite with her in Saigon.

One day in 1956 Kieu Chinh was walking near the Hotel Continental, when a young man approached her and asked her to go to a roadside cafe to meet someone.

Mankiewicz said that Kieu Chinh suited a fictional role he was going to film in Saigon.

Kieu Chinh suggested she take the script of The Quiet American.

However, after pressure from her family, who were reluctant to allow her, Kieu Chinh had to decline that opportunity.

Kieu Chinh's character, which her family agreed to, was a Buddhist nun.

Kieu Chinh is a president, co-founder, and co-chair of the Vietnam Children's Fund.

Kieu Chinh produced a war epic Faceless Lover, which later would be remastered and shown in the US at the 2003 Vietnamese International Film Festival.

Permission for the Giao Chi Films Studio's war film was initially rejected because the studio was privately owned, so general director Kieu Chinh asked for permission from the Ministry of Information, Ministry of National Defence, and especially the headquarter of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces.

Kieu Chinh must "insisted" Madame Ung Thi who was an owner of Rex Theatre.

Kieu Chinh wanted to realize a film project The Cartus Plant which was based on the Bible.

Actress Kieu Chinh reissued it in California from the 1980s to the present.

Kieu Chinh returned to South Vietnam, and then on to Singapore using her diplomatic passport.

Kieu Chinh was refused entry to France, Britain and the US.

Kieu Chinh needed to get a job immediately and ended up working on a chicken farm.

Kieu Chinh tried to contact previous acquaintances in the acting world including Glenn Ford and Burt Reynolds, but both were "unavailable" to help.

Kieu Chinh lived in Canada with her children for several years.

Kieu Chinh founded the Giao Chi Film Production company to promote Vietnamese culture and arts.

Kieu Chinh invited many old friends who are known authors and artists for collaborations.

Kieu Chinh subsequently acted in feature films as well as TV movies, including The Children of An Lac, Hamburger Hill, Riot, Catfish in Black Bean Sauce, Face, Journey From The Fall, 21.

Kieu Chinh became an MC with Giao Chi Television from Los Angeles.

In 2005, Kieu Chinh starred in Journey from the Fall, a film tracing a Vietnamese family through the aftermath of the fall of Saigon, the re-education camps, the boat people experience, and the initial difficulties of settling in the US.

Kieu Chinh called for the attention of the US government to help Vietnamese boat people floating at sea or trapped in refugee camps.

In 1993, together with journalist Terry A Anderson, Kieu Chinh co-founded the Vietnam Children's Fund, a non-profit organization that has built a network of elementary schools in Vietnam as living memorials to remember the families and children lost in that country's long wars.

The family is Buddhist, but Kieu Chinh attended a Christian school when she was young.

Kieu Chinh was named "Refugee of the Year" by the United States Congress in 1990, received the "Warrior Woman Award" from the Asian Pacific Women's Network, and was the only Vietnamese person invited to speak at the 10th anniversary ceremonies for the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC.

At the 2003 Vietnamese International Film Festival, Kieu Chinh received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Kieu Chinh was honored as the 2009 Woman of the Year for her work in film and community service by State Senator Lou Correa.