Person
Kieu Chinh
Hanoi, Vietnam
Kieu Chinh (born September 3rd, 1937) is a Vietnamese-American actress, producer, humanitarian, lecturer and philanthropist. One of the most prominent film stars in South Vietnam…
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Kieu Chinh (born September 3rd, 1937) is a Vietnamese-American actress, producer, humanitarian, lecturer and philanthropist. One of the most prominent film stars in South Vietnam during the 60s and 70s, she immigrated to America after 1975 and eventually settled in California where she resumed acting with the help of Tippi Hedron; her first credit in America was as Hawkeye’s South Korean love interest in the TV show M*A*S*H. Subsequently, Kieu Chinh appeared in 45 feature films and television shows, among them the TV movies The Children of An Lac (1980), The Letter (1982) and The Girl Who Spelled Freedom (1986), and films like Hamburger Hill (1987), Gleaming the Cube (1988), Riot (1997) and Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (1999). She also landed a recurring role on ABC’s Vietnam war series China Beach from 1989 to 1991 and the Fox TV show 21 in 2008. But her best-known role is that of Suyuan Woo in Wayne Wang’s The Joy Luck Club in 1993, a film about the relationship between Chinese immigrant mothers and their Chinese-American mothers. Amongst the accolades that Chinh has received in her six-decade career are the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Vietnamese International Film Festival in 2003, the Special Acting Award at the Women’s Film Festival in Turin in 2003, and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the San Diego Asian Film Festival and the San Francisco Film Fest in 2006 and 2015, respectively. In 2009, Chinh was honored as the Woman of the Year for her work in film and community service by California Representative Lou Correa.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2026
Chrysalis
Movie
-
2025
Dope Thief
TV show Xuan 'Grandma' Pham
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2025
Control Freak
Movie Aunt Thuy
-
2024
My Eyes
Movie Mrs. Cheong
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2024
The Sympathizer
TV show Crapulent Major's Mother
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2019
Finding Julia
Movie Van Tran
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2019
In Full Bloom
Movie Cecile
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2018
The Neighborhood
TV show Tuyen
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2014
Hollow
Movie Shaman Linh
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2012
Trade of Innocents
Movie (voice)
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2012
Pearls of the Far East
Movie Kieu
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2009
21 and a Wake-Up
Movie Mamason
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2009
NCIS: Los Angeles
TV show Kim Nguyen
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2008
21
Movie Chinese Woman
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2007
Journey from the Fall
Movie Ba Noi (Grandmother)
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2003
Tempted
Movie Kehau
More credits
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2002
Face
Movie Mrs. Liu
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2001
Green Dragon
Movie Kieu
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2000
What's Cooking?
Movie Grandma Nguyen
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1999
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce
Movie Thanh
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1998
Martial Law
TV show Lin Sung Yuan
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1998
City of Angels
Movie Asian Woman
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1997
Riot
Movie Mrs. Lee
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1996
Promised Land
TV show Mrs. Kim
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1995
Cybill
TV show Herbalist
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1994
Touched by an Angel
TV show Lang
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1994
ER
TV show Mrs. Chen
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1994
Chicago Hope
TV show Mrs. Mai Ying Wang
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1993
The Joy Luck Club
Movie Suyuan Wong
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1990
Last Flight Out
Movie
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1990
The Girl Who Came Between Them
Movie Thuy
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1990
Vietnam Texas
Movie Mallan
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1989
Welcome Home
Movie Leang
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1989
Gleaming the Cube
Movie Madame Trac
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1987
Hamburger Hill
Movie Mama San
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1986
The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer
Movie Sai Luhn
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1986
The Girl Who Spelled Freedom
Movie Phoen Yann
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1983
Cocaine: One Man's Seduction
Movie Mrs. Marchais
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1982
The Letter
Movie Chinese Woman
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1981
The Other Victim
Movie Mrs. Troung
