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IMDbPro

Kieu Chinh

  • Actress
  • Additional Crew
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Kieu Chinh
In Manhattan, Eurasian acting student Julia Chamonix (Ha Phuong) is unable to enjoy the privileged life she shares with her doting father (Andrew McCarthy). Haunted by the tragic early death of her mother-a former star actress and singer in Vietnam-and likewise haunted by a secret desire she has to hide from the world, Julia struggles in her acting studies under renowned coach Igor (Richard Chamberlain). However, her ambitions to emulate her mother's success are thwarted by her severe difficulties with the English language. Her only confidante is her wise Vietnamese grandmother (Kieu Chinh), but even with her she limits what she confides. Meanwhile she begins to experience recurrent nightmares in which she relives the car accident that killed her mother. Caught between two very different cultures, East and West, Julia questions if she will ever fit in anywhere.
Play trailer1:31
Finding Julia (2019)
9 Videos
30 Photos
Veteran Vietnamese born actress Kieu Chinh is best known to moviegoers for her role as Suyuan Woo in the 1991 film "The Joy Luck Club". She also made a notable guest appearance on the hit CBS-TV series "M*A*S*H" as Kyung Soon, an aristocratic South Korean socialite whom Hawkeye begins to fall in love with (which is reciprocated) after he's enlisted by Colonel Potter to attend to her sick mother in the episode "In Love and War" (directed by Alan Alda) in the series' sixth season.

In the 1960s, in addition to Vietnamese films, she also appeared in several US productions including "A Yank in Viet-Nam" (1964) and "Operation C.I.A."' (1965), the latter opposite Burt Reynolds. Kieu Chinh also produced a war epic "Nguoi Tình Khong Chan Dung" (Warrior, Who Are You) (1971), which later would be remastered and shown in the U.S. at the 2003 Vietnamese International Film Festival.

In 1975, while Kieu Chinh was on the set in Singapore, communist North Vietnamese overran Saigon. Kieu Chinh left for the U.S. where she resumed her acting career in a 1977 episode of M*A*S*H "In Love and War", written by Alan Alda and loosely based on her life story.

Kieu Chinh subsequently acted in feature films as well as TV-movies including The Children of An Lac", "Hamburger Hill" (1987), "Riot" (1997), "Catfish in Black Bean Sauce" (1999), "Face" (2002), "Journey From The Fall" (2005), and the FOX-TV series "21" (2008).

From 1989 to 1991, she had a recurring role as Trieu Au on the ABC-TV Vietnam War drama series "China Beach".

For over a decade, Chinh has been a lecturer of the Greater Talent Network in New York. She has been invited to give keynote addresses at Pfizer, Kellogg, Cornell University and University of San Diego. Kieu is also active in philanthropic work. Together with journalist Terry Anderson, she co-founded the Vietnam Children's Fund, which has built schools in Vietnam attended by more than 25,000 students annually. Kieu Chinh and Anderson continue to serve as the Fund's co-chair.
BornJuly 3, 1937
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornJuly 3, 1937
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Unlock contact info on IMDbPro
  • Awards
    • 1 win

Photos30

The Joy Luck Club, 1993
Kieu Chinh with Alan Alda, M*A*S*H, 1977
The Cast of The Joy Luck Club, 1993
Emmy Awards at Academy Of Television Arts & Sciences, 1996
Kieu Chinh in The Joy Luck Club (1993)
Kieu Chinh and Marshall Thompson in A Yank in Viet-Nam (1964)
Alan Alda and Kieu Chinh in M*A*S*H (1972)
Alan Alda and Kieu Chinh in M*A*S*H (1972)
Bai Ling, Kieu Chinh, and Kristy Wu in Face (2002)
Tamlyn Tomita, Rosalind Chao, Ming-Na Wen, Tsai Chin, Kieu Chinh, Lisa Lu, France Nuyen, and Lauren Tom in The Joy Luck Club (1993)
Kieu Chinh with Alan Alda in M*A*S*H. Season 6 Episode 7
Kieu Chinh

Known for

The Joy Luck Club (1993)
The Joy Luck Club
7.7
  • Suyuan - The Mother
  • 1993
Hamburger Hill (1987)
Hamburger Hill
6.7
  • Mama San
  • 1987
Kate Bosworth, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts, Jim Sturgess, and Aaron Yoo in 21 (2008)
21
6.8
  • Chinese Woman(as Kieu-Chinh)
  • 2008
Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan in City of Angels (1998)
City of Angels
6.7
  • Asian Woman(as Kieu-Chinh)
  • 1998

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress

  • Just One Life
    • Nadia
    • Post-production
  • The Sympathizer
    • . Crapulent Major's Mother, Major's Mothe
    • In Production
    • TV Mini Series
  • Tichina Arnold, Cedric the Entertainer, Max Greenfield, Sheaun McKinney, Beth Behrs, Marcel Spears, and Hank Greenspan in The Neighborhood (2018)
    The Neighborhood
    • Tuyen
    • TV Series
    • 2022
  • Kieu Chinh in Recovery (2021)
    Recovery
    • Ngoc
    • Short
    • 2021
  • Ghost Tape (2020)
    Ghost Tape
    • Maiv
    • Podcast Series
    • 2020
  • Finding Julia (2019)
    Finding Julia
    • Van Tran
    • 2019
  • In Full Bloom (2019)
    In Full Bloom
    • Cecile
    • Short
    • 2019
  • NCIS: Los Angeles (2009)
    NCIS: Los Angeles
    • Kim Nguyen
    • Madge
    • TV Series
    • 2014–2018
  • Hollow (2014)
    Hollow
    • Shaman Linh
    • 2014
  • Mira Sorvino and Dermot Mulroney in Trade of Innocents (2012)
    Trade of Innocents
    • Voice Actor (voice, uncredited)
    • 2012
  • Jason Isaacs, Laura Allen, and Dylan Minnette in Awake (2012)
    Awake
    • Mrs. Do
    • TV Series
    • 2012
  • Pearls of the Far East (2011)
    Pearls of the Far East
    • Kieu
    • 2011
  • Tom Sizemore in 21 and a Wake-Up (2009)
    21 and a Wake-Up
    • Mamason
    • 2009
  • Kate Bosworth, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts, Jim Sturgess, and Aaron Yoo in 21 (2008)
    21
    • Chinese Woman (as Kieu-Chinh)
    • 2008
  • Journey from the Fall (2006)
    Journey from the Fall
    • Ba Noi (Grandmother)
    • 2006
  • George Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Julianna Margulies, Ming-Na Wen, Noah Wyle, Laura Innes, Alex Kingston, Eriq La Salle, Kellie Martin, Paul McCrane, Michael Michele, Erik Palladino, Maura Tierney, and Goran Visnjic in ER (1994)
    ER
    • Mrs. Chen
    • TV Series
    • 2003
  • Jason Momoa in Tempted (2003)
    Tempted
    • Kehau (as Kieu-Chinh)
    • TV Movie
    • 2003

Additional Crew

  • Vietnam War Story (1987)
    Vietnam War Story
    • Vietnamese technical advisor
    • TV Series
    • 1988
  • Hamburger Hill (1987)
    Hamburger Hill
    • vietnamese advisor
    • 1987
  • The Children of an Lac (1980)
    The Children of an Lac
    • technical advisor
    • TV Movie
    • 1980

Producer

  • Ride the Thunder (2015)
    Ride the Thunder
    • co-producer
    • 2015
  • Nguoi tinh khong chan dung (1971)
    Nguoi tinh khong chan dung
    • executive producer
    • 1971
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos9

Kieu Chinh Demo Reel
Demo Reel 4:50
Kieu Chinh Demo Reel
The Joy Luck Club
Clip 1:45
The Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club
Clip 1:29
The Joy Luck Club
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:27
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:29
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:31
Official Trailer
Face
Trailer 2:11
Face
In Full Bloom (Teaser)
Trailer 0:43
In Full Bloom (Teaser)
Catfish In Black Bean Sauce
Trailer 2:08
Catfish In Black Bean Sauce

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • Lieu Chinh
  • Born
    • July 3, 1937
    • Hanoi, Vietnam
  • Spouse
    • Nang Te Nguyen1955 - 1980 (divorced, 3 children)

Self-verified on IMDbPro

  • Gender / Gender identity
    • Female

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