People's Artist Nguyễn Thị Trà Giang (born 11 December 1942 in Phan Thiết) is a Vietnamese actress, politician and painter. She is often regarded as one of the greatest figures of early Vietnamese cinema, and was the first film star to be named a People’s Artist of Vietnam. Daughter of prestigious stage director Nguyễn Văn Khánh, Trà Giang immigrated to Hai Phong with her father’s troupe following the 1954 partition of Vietnam. In 1959, she passed a selective audition and joined the newly inaugurated Vietnamese Academy of Performing Arts in Hanoi, where she made her debut in stage and occasionally took on background acting roles at Hanoi Film Studio. After her graduation from the Academy, Trà Giang made her debut as Mrs. Kien in "A First Day in Autumn" (Một ngày đầu thu, d. Huy Vân & Hải Ninh, 1962). In 1963, Trà Giang rose to prominence with the career-defining role as the titular character in Phạm Kỳ Nam’s “Mrs. Tư Hậu”(Chị Tư Hậu). In 1973, she won the award for Best Actress at the 8th Moscow International Film Festival for her role in "17th Parallel, Nights and Days" (Vĩ tuyến 17 ngày và đêm, d. Hải Ninh). The last film Trà Giang participated in was "The River of White Flowers" (Dòng sông hoa trắng, d. Trần Phương, 1989). The actress has since been mostly active as painter. She had also briefly entered politics, with two times elected as the Representative of the constituency in her father’s hometown Quảng Ngãi (then Nghĩa Bình province).
