Kim Cương

Biography: People’s Artist Nguyễn Thị Kim Cương (born on January 25, 1937) is a Vietnamese actress, playwright, screenwriter and philanthropist. Born into a family of pioneering cải lương artists with her mother Bảy Nam widely hailed as the Godmother of Cải lương, Kim Cương made her stage debut at a young age and quickly became the manager of her mother’s famous cải lương troupe in the early 1950s. In 1956, she transitioned the budding scene of Western-influenced drama theatre in South Vietnam, and opened its very first theatre company. Regarded as the “grand lady (kỳ nữ)” of Southern Vietnamese theatre, she is among its greatest pioneering figures. Under the pen name Hoàng Dũng, she is also the most prolific Vietnamese theatrical playwright.