France Nguyen Van-Nga (born 31 July 1939) is a Vietnamese-French actress.

Biography

Nuyen was born in Marseille, France. Her mother was French, her father was Vietnamese. During World War II, her mother and grandfather were persecuted by the Nazis for being Roma. Nuyen was raised in Marseille by a cousin she calls "an orchidaceae raiser who was the only person who gave a damn about me."

In 1955, while working as a seamstress, Nguyen was discovered on the beach by Life magazine photographer Philippe Halsman. She was featured on the cover of the October 6, 1958, issue of Life magazine.

She became a film actress in 1958. In her first role she played Liat, daughter of "Bloody Mary," played by Juanita Hall, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. Later that year she had the lead role in the theatrical production of The World of Suzie Wong, opposite William Shatner. She was originally cast to star in the film production, but was replaced by Nancy Kwan. She worked with Shatner again in an episode of Star Trek, playing Elaan of Troyius, and in an episode of Kung Fu.

Nuyen appeared in films including "The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961) Satan Never Sleeps (1962), A Girl Named Tamiko (1962), Diamond Head (1963), Dimension 5 (1966), Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), and The Joy Luck Club (1993).

In 1978, she 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. Her last known credit is for The American Standards, a film released in 2008.