France Nuyen (born France Nguyễn Vân Nga on 31 July 1939) is a French actress, model, and psychological counsellor.
Early life
Nguyen was born in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
. Her mother was French, and her father was widely reported to be Vietnamese, although she has stated that he was "probably of Chinese origin".
During World War II, her mother and grandfather were persecuted by the Nazis for being
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
.
Nguyen was raised in Marseille by a cousin she calls "an
Orchidaceae
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...
raiser who was the only person who gave a damn about me." Having left school at the age of 11, she began studying art and became an artist's model.
In 1955, while working as a seamstress, Nguyen was discovered on the beach by ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'' photographer
Philippe Halsman
Philippe Halsman ( lv, Filips Halsmans, german: Philipp Halsmann; 2 May 1906 – 25 June 1979) was an American portrait photographer. He was born in Riga in the part of the Russian Empire which later became Latvia, and died in New York City.
Li ...
. She was featured on the cover of 6 October 1958 issue of ''Life''.
Career
France Nuyen became a motion picture actress in 1958. In her first role, she appeared as Liat, daughter of Bloody Mary (played by
Juanita Hall
Juanita Hall (née Long, November 6, 1901 – February 29, 1968) was an American musical theatre and film actress. She is remembered for her roles in the original stage and screen versions of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals ''South Pacific'' ...
) in the
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...
musical ''
South Pacific''.
Nuyen was then cast to star in the
film adaptation of ''The World of Suzie Wong'', but was fired during production by producer
Ray Stark
Raymond Otto Stark (October 3, 1915 – January 17, 2004) was one of the most successful and prolific independent film producers in postwar Hollywood. Stark's background as a literary and theatrical agent prepared him to produce some of the most ...
and her scenes re-shot with her replacement,
Nancy Kwan
Nancy Kwan Ka-shen (; born May 19, 1939) is a Chinese-American actress, philanthropist, and former dancer. In addition to her personality and looks, her career was benefited by Hollywood's casting of more Asian roles in the 1960s, especially in ...
.
In 1978 Nuyen guest-starred with
Peter Falk and
Louis Jourdan
Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Paradine Case'' (1947), '' Lett ...
in the ''
Columbo'' episode "
Murder Under Glass". In 1986 she joined the cast of ''
St. Elsewhere'' as Dr. Paulette Kiem, remaining until the series ended in 1988.
Nuyen appeared in several films including ''
The Last Time I Saw Archie
''The Last Time I Saw Archie'' is a 1961 comedy film set in the waning days of World War II. Robert Mitchum stars as Arch Hall Sr., a lazy, scheming American in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, an aviation school for pilots too old to fly ai ...
'' (1961) ''
Satan Never Sleeps
''Satan Never Sleeps '' (also known as ''The Devil Never Sleeps'') is a 1962 American drama romance war film directed by Leo McCarey, his final film, in which he returns to the religious themes of his classics '' Going My Way'' (1944) and ''The Be ...
'' (1962), ''
A Girl Named Tamiko'' (1962), ''
Diamond Head'' (1963), ''
Dimension 5'' (1966), ''
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
''Battle for the Planet of the Apes'' is a 1973 American science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson. It is the fifth and final installment in the original ''Planet of the Apes'' series, produced by Arthur P. Jacobs, following ''Conquest of ...
'' (1973), ''
The Joy Luck Club'' (1993) and ''The American Standards'' (2008).
With William Shatner
France Nuyen worked several times with actor
William Shatner
William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...
. At age 19, she was cast in Shatner's 1958
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
play ''
The World of Suzie Wong
''The World of Suzie Wong'' is a 1957 novel by British writer Richard Mason. The main characters are Robert Lomax, a young British artist living in Hong Kong, and Suzie Wong, the title character, a Chinese woman who works as a prostitute. ...
''. After a dubious initial opening, the play ran for more than 500 performances and was quite financially successful. Both Nuyen and Shatner later collected notable accolades for their work on the show, at the 1959
Theatre World Awards.
Nuyen worked again with Shatner across three US television projects, starting with "
Elaan of Troyius", a 1968 third season episode of the original ''
Star Trek'' in which Nuyen was the title character. She would later appear with Shatner in the 1973 made for TV movie ''
The Horror at 37,000 Feet
''The Horror at 37,000 Feet'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror television film directed by David Lowell Rich. The film stars Chuck Connors, Buddy Ebsen, Tammy Grimes, William Shatner, and Paul Winfield. It centers on hapless passengers and ...
'', and afterward in a 1974 episode of the ''
Kung Fu
Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...
'' series entitled "A Small Beheading".
Personal life
From 1963 to 1966, Nuyen was married to Dr. Thomas Gaspar Morell, a psychiatrist from
New York, by whom she has a daughter, Fleur, who resides in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and works as a film make-up artist. She met her second husband,
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp (August 16, 1930 – March 24, 2010) was an American actor widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on ''I Spy'' (1965–1968), the espionage television se ...
, while appearing in four episodes of his television series ''
I Spy
I spy is a guessing game where one player (the ''spy'' or ''it'') chooses an object within sight and announces to the other players that "I spy with my little eye something beginning with...", naming the first letter of the object. Other players a ...
''. They married in 1967, but divorced three years later. There were on-and-off relationships, most notably an affair with
Marlon Brando in 1960.
In 1986, Nuyen earned a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in
clinical psychology and began a second career as a counsellor for abused women, children and women in prison. She received a Woman of the Year award in 1989 for her psychology work. In the ''Life'' cover story on Nuyen, she is quoted as saying a proverb she also repeated in character as a spy in the ''I Spy'' episode "Magic Mirror": "I am Chinese. I am a stone. I go where I am kicked."
She resides in
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
.
Filmography
Film
* ''
South Pacific'' (1958) - Liat
* ''
In Love and War'' (1958) - Kalai Ducanne
* ''
The Last Time I Saw Archie
''The Last Time I Saw Archie'' is a 1961 comedy film set in the waning days of World War II. Robert Mitchum stars as Arch Hall Sr., a lazy, scheming American in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, an aviation school for pilots too old to fly ai ...
'' (1961) - Cindy Hamilton
* ''
Satan Never Sleeps
''Satan Never Sleeps '' (also known as ''The Devil Never Sleeps'') is a 1962 American drama romance war film directed by Leo McCarey, his final film, in which he returns to the religious themes of his classics '' Going My Way'' (1944) and ''The Be ...
'' (1962) - Siu Lan
* ''
A Girl Named Tamiko'' (1962) - Tamiko
* ''
Diamond Head'' (1962) - Mai Chen
* ''Marco Polo'' (1962)
* ''
Man in the Middle'' (1964) - Kate Davray
* ''
Dimension 5'' (1966) - Kitty
* ''
Black Water Gold
''Black Water Gold'' is a 1970 American made-for-television adventure drama film starring Keir Dullea, Bradford Dillman, France Nuyen, Aron Kincaid, and Ricardo Montalbán. It was aired on January 6, 1970 in the ''ABC Movie of the Week'' space.
...
'' (1970, TV Movie) - Thais
* ''
One More Train to Rob'' (1971) - Ah Toy
* ''Slingshot'' (1971)
* ''
The Horror at 37,000 Feet
''The Horror at 37,000 Feet'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror television film directed by David Lowell Rich. The film stars Chuck Connors, Buddy Ebsen, Tammy Grimes, William Shatner, and Paul Winfield. It centers on hapless passengers and ...
'' (1973, TV Movie) - Annalik
* ''
The Big Game'' (1973) - Atanga
* ''
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
''Battle for the Planet of the Apes'' is a 1973 American science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson. It is the fifth and final installment in the original ''Planet of the Apes'' series, produced by Arthur P. Jacobs, following ''Conquest of ...
'' (1973) - Alma
* ''
Code Name: Diamond Head'' (1977, TV Movie) - Tso-Tsing
* ''
China Cry
''China Cry'' is a 1990 American biographical film set during rise of the communist state in China, based on the book by Nora Lam. It is set in the 1950s based on the true story of Sung Neng Yee. Born into a wealthy Chinese family, she is first ...
'' (1990) - Mrs. Sung
* ''
The Joy Luck Club'' (1993) - Ying-Ying - The Mother
* ''
A Passion to Kill'' (1994) - Lou Mazaud
* ''Angry Cafe'' (1995) - Rosie
* ''The Magic Pearl'' (1997) - (voice)
* ''
A Smile Like Yours
''A Smile Like Yours'' is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by Keith Samples and starring Greg Kinnear and Lauren Holly. The film centers on a couple as they try to conceive a child. The film was produced by Rysher Entertainment and ...
'' (1997) - Dr. Chin
* ''
The Battle of Shaker Heights
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (2003) - Xiou-Xiou Ling
* ''The American Standards'' (2008) - Dr. Pierce
Television
*
''Hong Kong'' - episode "Clear for Action" (1960)
*''
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...
'' - episode "The Cherry Blossom Affair" (1965)
* ''
Gunsmoke'' - episode "Gunfighter, R.I.P." (1966) - as Ching Lee (S12E6)
* ''
Gunsmoke'' - episode "Honor Before Justice" (1966) - as Sarah
* ''
I Spy
I spy is a guessing game where one player (the ''spy'' or ''it'') chooses an object within sight and announces to the other players that "I spy with my little eye something beginning with...", naming the first letter of the object. Other players a ...
'' - four episodes (1966-1967)
* ''
Star Trek'' - episode "
Elaan of Troyius" (1968)
* ''
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Da ...
'' (1968)
* ''
Medical Center'' - episode "The Battle of Lili Wu" (1969)
* ''
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to:
* ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series
* ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...
'' - episode "Highest Castle, Deepest Grave" (1971)
* ''
Kung Fu
Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...
'' - episode "A Small Beheading" (1974)
* ''
The Six Million Dollar Man
''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After a NASA test flight accident, Austin is re ...
'' - episode "The Coward" (1974)
* ''
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to:
* ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series
* ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...
'' - episode "Small Witness, Large Crime" (S7 EP 17, 1975)
* ''
Code Name: Diamond Head'' (1977)
* ''
Charlie's Angels'' - episode "Angels in Paradise" (1977)
* ''
Columbo'' - episode "
Murder Under Glass" (1978)
* ''
Fantasy Island
''Fantasy Island'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Gene Levitt. It aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tattoo. ...
'' - "Return to Fantasy Island" (1978)
* ''
Automan
''Automan'' is an American superhero television series produced by Glen A. Larson. It aired for 12 episodes (although 13 were made) on ABC between 1983 and 1984. It consciously emulates the stylistic trappings of the Walt Disney Pictures live- ...
'' - episode "Ships in the Night" (1984)
* ''
Magnum, P.I.
''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...
'' - episode "Torah, Torah, Torah" (1985)
* ''
Murder, She Wrote'' - episode "A Death in Hong Kong" (1993)
* ''
St. Elsewhere'' (1986-1988) as Dr. Paulette Kiem.
* ''
The Outer Limits'' - episode "Ripper" (1999)
* "
Tom Clancy's Op-Center
''Tom Clancy's Op-Center'' is a novel series, created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik, though the first 12 books were written by Jeff Rovin between 1995 and 2005. The four books in the series reboot from 2014 are written by Dick Couch, George Gal ...
" - Li Tang (1995)
* ''
Knots Landing'' (1990) as a doctor
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuyen, France
1939 births
Living people
Actresses of Chinese descent
Actresses of Vietnamese descent
French film actresses
French stage actresses
French television actresses
French people of Chinese descent
French people of Vietnamese descent
Actresses from Marseille
20th-century French actresses
21st-century French actresses
American_television_actresses
Clinical psychologists