France Nuyen


France Nuyen is a French-American actress, model, and psychological counselor. She is known to film audiences for playing romantic leads in South Pacific, Satan Never Sleeps, and A Girl Named Tamiko, and for playing Ying-Ying St. Clair in The Joy Luck Club. She also originated the title role in the Broadway play The World of Suzie Wong, based on the novel of the same name. She is a Theatre World Award winner and Golden Globe Award nominee.

Early life

Nuyen was born France Nguyễn Vân Nga in Marseille, the daughter of a Romani French mother and a father from French Indochina. Her father is widely reported to be Viet; however, Nuyen identifies him and herself as Chinese or Hoa. Nuyen’s father abandoned her and her mother when she was young, and she was raised in Marseille by a cousin she calls "an Orchidaceae raiser who was the only person who gave a damn about me." During World War II, her mother and grandfather were persecuted by the Nazis for being Romani.
After leaving school at the age of 11, she began studying art and became an artist's model. She was later signed to Candy Jones’ agency, and moved to New York City at age 16. In 1955, Nuyen was discovered while modeling at the Beaux Arts School by Life photographer Philippe Halsman. 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, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific.
In 1978 Nuyen guest-starred with Peter Falk and Louis Jourdan 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 ''Satan Never Sleeps, A Girl Named Tamiko, Diamond Head, Dimension 5, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, The Joy Luck Club, and The American Standards''.

With William Shatner

France Nuyen worked several times with actor William Shatner. At age 19, she was cast in Shatner's 1958 Broadway play The World of Suzie Wong. 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, and afterward in a 1974 episode of the Kung Fu series entitled "A Small Beheading".

Personal life

Nuyen had many on-and-off relationships, most notably an affair with Marlon Brando in 1960. From 1963 to 1966, Nuyen was married to Thomas Gaspar Morell, a psychiatrist from New York, by whom she has a daughter, Fleur, who resides in Canada and works as a film make-up artist. She met her second husband, Robert Culp, while appearing in four episodes of his television series I Spy. They married in 1967, but divorced three years later.
In 1986, Nuyen earned a master's degree in clinical psychology and began a second career as a counselor for abused women and 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."
As of 2019, she resides in Beverly Hills.

Filmography

Film

South Pacific - LiatIn Love and War - Kalai DucanneThe Last Time I Saw Archie - Cindy HamiltonSatan Never Sleeps - Siu LanA Girl Named Tamiko - TamikoDiamond Head - Mai ChenMarco Polo Man in the Middle - Kate DavrayDimension 5 - Kitty Black Water Gold - ThaisOne More Train to Rob - Ah ToySlingshot The Horror at 37,000 Feet - AnnalikThe Big Game - AtangaBattle for the Planet of the Apes - AlmaCode Name: Diamond Head - Tso-TsingChina Cry - Mrs. SungThe Joy Luck Club - Ying-Ying - The MotherA Passion to Kill - Lou MazaudAngry Cafe - RosieThe Magic Pearl - A Smile Like Yours - Dr. ChinThe Battle of Shaker Heights - Xiou-Xiou LingThe American Standards - Dr. Pierce

Television