The Odyssey of a Vietnamese Film Star : A legend in her homeland, she lost everything with the fall of Saigon

Kieu Chinh was once voted the most popular film actress in Asia. She was the biggest box-office draw in her home country of Vietnam and the charm of a continent. But when she escaped on the last plane during the fall of Saigon in 1975, she left behind her country and her fame. Today, the name of Vietnam’s former leading lady can’t be found in the press notes of her latest film.

In Columbia’s postwar drama “Welcome Home” (opening Friday), the last film by the late director Franklin Schaffner, Chinh has a brief screen appearance at the film’s opening as the Cambodian wife of Vietnam veteran Kris Kristofferson. In her only scene, Chinh hauls Kristofferson’s limp body over rugged mountains to get him to a hospital. Once there, he is whisked to America, and she is left behind in Cambodia, where she is eventually killed.

Not exactly star billing for Asia’s superstar. But Chinh has gradually come to expect such roles. When she first arrived in the United States, there were no studio executives lined up to sign the Vietnamese veteran of more than 30 feature films. In America, she was just another actress grateful for a bit part.

“At first, it was very difficult for me because of my background,” Chinh, now 49, said. Her sleek facial features, slight build and coal-black hair have changed little in the years since her early publicity stills. “But I accepted it,” she said resolutely. “I had to. Because the moment I left my homeland, I lost everything overnight--my country, my loved ones, my property, and my career. I knew I had to lose it all for a chance at freedom.”

It was not the first time that the search for freedom forced Chinh to start her life over. She was 14 when the 1954 cease-fire accord was signed in Geneva, dividing Vietnam into two parts. While fleeing communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam, Chinh was split up from her father and brother. She never saw them again.

Chinh settled in Saigon with a family she met on the airplane and began acting. Soon, she was providing entertainment--a form of wartime relief--to an entire country. When Nguyen Thu, director of the state-controlled Vietnamese film industry, visited Los Angeles in April, he conceded that, “No one has taken Kieu Chinh’s place in Vietnam. I don’t think anyone can.”

Chinh was honored with best actress awards by her country in 1968 and the Asian Film Festival in 1973. Her talent was in demand throughout Southeastern Asia. She appeared in several visiting American productions. She hosted a TV talk show. And she formed her own film company.

Then, at the height of Chinh’s popularity, her country’s government collapsed.

“I left Vietnam on 30 minutes’ notice,” Chinh said. “All I had with me was a handbag. I flew to Singapore, but when I landed they dragged me to jail and threatened to send me back. They would not accept my passport because there was no Vietnamese government in power.”

Chinh says a friend bought her a ticket to fly “around the world” until the situation in Vietnam stabilized. Without an entry visa, she could stay at each place for only 24 hours. She made whirlwind stops in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Paris and finally Canada.

“The moment I landed in Canada, I heard the announcement that Saigon had fallen. It was very difficult. I knew it was going to happen, but it shocked me when it did. Suddenly I realized that I had lost my country. The door was shut, and everything behind it belonged to another world.”

Chinh was granted refugee status in Canada, but her goal was the United States, and she needed a sponsor to get her there. “The first person I thought to call was Burt Reynolds, who I worked with on a film in Vietnam,” Chinh said. Reynolds was out, but she was able to reach Tippi Hedren, who was a guest on Chinh’s TV show in 1965 while in Vietnam for a USO tour.

The American actress--who was working with Food for the Hungry--not only welcomed Chinh into her home, she flew Chinh to Sacramento where Chinh’s warm, familiar face was one of the first to greet about 15,000 Vietnamese refugees as they landed in America.

“She’s a heroine to her people,” said Hedren, who later helped Chinh find an agent. “Her story is tragic. She was a beautiful and famous woman who had everything and lost it all. Her strength is tremendous. Anyone who has spent time with her has drawn upon that strength in some way.”

Chinh now lives quietly in Studio City in relative obscurity to those outside of the local Vietnamese community. She spent her first 10 years at Catholic Charities in downtown Los Angeles working with Indochinese refugees, helping them to adjust to a new culture.

She took time off for acting jobs, most of them small typecast roles on TV movies or series--with a few notable exceptions. In 1977, Alan Alda wrote a special episode of “MASH” with her in mind. And in 1982, she received critical acclaim for her role “The Letter,” an ABC movie of the week.

“I was so innocent then that I received an Emmy nomination for a supporting role, but I didn’t even know what an Emmy was,” she said. “It was all so new to me. I didn’t go to the awards ceremony. I received a card in the mail telling me that I was nominated, but I didn’t know what to do with it.”

Since 1985, Chinh has been trying to act full-time. She says she is hampered by a lack of roles for Asian actresses. Most recently, she played a nun in ABC’s war series “China Beach.” Another feature film role is on the way--opposite Dr. Haing S. Ngor in Transworld’s upcoming “Vietnam,Texas.” Having witnessed war for more than half of her life, Chinh supplements her acting career as a technical consultant on Vietnam-related books, feature films and TV shows.

Chinh says her dream is to expand the world’s view of Vietnam. “When you talk about Vietnam, you can’t avoid the war. All these Vietnam movies. Bombings. Soldiers. Blood. That’s all we see. The stories are about soldiers, written by American veterans. But where are the people, my people? Where is the culture? I think it’s time to swing the camera around for a new perspective.”