Background
Don Duong was born in Da Latin, South Vietnam.
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Don Duong
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He began acting in 1982 and has appeared in over 50 feature films. In 2001, Duong traveled to the United States. to film two films. In Green Dragon (2001), a film directed by Tony Bui"s brother Timothy Linh Bui and starring Patrick Swayze and Forest Whitaker, Duong played a Vietnamese refugee who assisted Swayze"s character.
In We Were Soldiers (2002), Duong played Nguyễn Hữu An, a PAVN lieutenant colonel who led Vietnamese forces against the soldiers led by Mel Gibson"s character.
Upon his return to Vietnam in 2002, Duong was subjected to severe criticism by some Vietnamese citizens and government officials for his involvement in these two projects, particularly for his portrayal as Colonel An in We Were Soldiers where he orders his Viet Minh troops to kill captured and wounded French soldiers. Within a few months, the Vietnamese Actors" Association expelled him, he was banned from working in Vietnam, and his passport was confiscated.
In the letter he described the two movies as just "cinema":
"Movies must reflect the portrait of history. "Green Dragon" re-creates the refugee camps full of tragedy and chaos but still not lacking love and fellowship.
When I portrayed the character Tai, I had to assume the viewpoint of that character, not my own viewpoint.
Only idiots who know nothing about movies would confuse Don Duong with the character Don Duong portrays."
As the filmmaking community in the United States. and elsewhere spoke out against the government"s negative treatment of Duong, the government of Vietnam relented and allowed him and his family to emigrate to the United States. He has also acted in the South Korean film Farewell the River. As of 2006, Duong lived in the San Francisco Bay Area.
On December 8, 2011 he died of heart failure and a brain haemorrhage at the age of 54.
Achievements
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Born
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Died
December 8, 2011 (aged 54) -
Nationality
United States