Kieu Chinh, a veteran Vietnamese-born actress, is most renowned for her captivating portrayal of Suyuan Woo in the 1991 film "The Joy Luck Club". Furthermore, she made a notable guest appearance on the CBS-TV series "M*A*S*H" as Kyung Soon, a refined South Korean socialite, whose aristocratic charm and sophistication captured the attention of Hawkeye, who reciprocated her affections after being enlisted by Colonel Potter to attend to her ailing mother in the episode "In Love and War" (directed by Alan Alda) during the series' sixth season.
In the 1960s, Kieu Chinh's acting career flourished, with appearances in both Vietnamese and US productions, including "A Yank in Viet-Nam" (1964) and "Operation C.I.A." (1965),alongside the talented Burt Reynolds. She also ventured into production, helming the war epic "Nguoi Tinh Khong Chan Dung" (Warrior, Who Are You) (1971),which was later remastered and showcased at the 2003 Vietnamese International Film Festival.
In 1975, while filming in Singapore, Kieu Chinh's life took an unexpected turn as communist North Vietnamese forces overran Saigon. She fled to the United States, where she resumed her acting career with a 1977 episode of "M*A*S*H" "In Love and War", penned by Alan Alda and loosely based on her life story.
Kieu Chinh's subsequent acting credits include feature films and TV-movies, such as "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 held a recurring role as Trieu Au on the ABC-TV Vietnam War drama series "China Beach". For over a decade, Kieu Chinh has been a lecturer for the Greater Talent Network in New York, delivering keynote addresses at prominent institutions such as Pfizer, Kellogg, Cornell University, and the University of San Diego.
Kieu Chinh is also an active philanthropist, co-founding the Vietnam Children's Fund with journalist Terry Anderson. The Fund has built schools in Vietnam, which are attended by more than 25,000 students annually. Kieu Chinh and Anderson continue to serve as the Fund's co-chairs.
