France Nuyen
Encyclopedia
France Nuyen (born 31 July 1939) is a French
actress.
, Bouches-du-Rhône
, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
, France
. Her mother was French, her father Vietnamese. During World War II
, her mother and grandfather were persecuted by the Nazis for being Gypsies. 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, Nuyen was discovered on the beach by Life
magazine photographer Philippe Halsman
. She then became a stage actress and played the lead in the 1958 theatrical production of The World of Suzie Wong
, opposite William Shatner
. (She later worked with Shatner in an episode of Star Trek
, as the memorable Elaan of Troyius, and an episode of Kung Fu.) Her distinctive accent made her recognizable to television audiences. She was originally cast to star in the film
production, but was replaced by Nancy Kwan
.
Nuyen appeared on television
and in film
s, including South Pacific
(1958), Satan Never Sleeps
(1962), A Girl Named Tamiko
(with Laurence Harvey
) (1962), Diamond Head
(1963), Dimension 5 (1966), Battle for the Planet of the Apes
(1973), and The Joy Luck Club
(1993). She continues to appear in films and recently appeared in the film The American Standards (2007). 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.
From 1963 to 1966, Nuyen was married to Dr. Thomas Gaspar Morell, a psychiatrist, by whom she has a daughter Fleur, who resides in Canada
and works as a film makeup artist. She met her second husband, Robert Culp
, while appearing on his show I Spy. They married in 1967 but divorced three years later. Nuyen and Culp were to appear as co-hosts of the second episode of the TV series Turn-On
in 1969, but the show was canceled after just one week.
In 1986, Nuyen earned a master's degree
in Clinical psychology
and began a second career as a psychological
counselor
for abused
women and children, and women in prison
. She received a Woman of the Year
award in 1989 for her psychological work.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
actress.
Biography
Nuyen was born in MarseilleMarseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA is one of the 27 regions of France.It is made up of:* the former French province of Provence* the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Her mother was French, her father Vietnamese. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, her mother and grandfather were persecuted by the Nazis for being Gypsies. Nuyen was raised in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
by a cousin she calls "an orchidaceae
Orchidaceae
The Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...
raiser who was the only person who gave a damn about me".
In 1955, while working as a seamstress, Nuyen was discovered on the beach by Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine photographer Philippe Halsman
Philippe Halsman
Philippe Halsman was an American portrait photographer.-Life and work:Born to a Jewish family of Morduch Halsman, a dentist, and Ita Grintuch, a grammar school principal, in Riga, Halsman studied electrical engineering in Dresden....
. She then became a stage actress and played the lead in the 1958 theatrical production of The World of Suzie Wong
The World of Suzie Wong
The World of Suzie Wong is a 1957 novel written by 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...
, opposite William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
. (She later worked with Shatner in an episode of Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
, as the memorable Elaan of Troyius, and an episode of Kung Fu.) Her distinctive accent made her recognizable to television audiences. She was originally cast to star in the film
The World of Suzie Wong (film)
The World of Suzie Wong is a 1960 British-American romantic drama film directed by Richard Quine. The screenplay by John Patrick was adapted from the stage play by Paul Osborn, which was based on the novel of the same title by Richard Mason...
production, but was replaced by Nancy Kwan
Nancy Kwan
Nancy "Ka Shen" Kwan is a Eurasian-American actress, who played a pivotal role in the acceptance of actors of Asian descent in major Hollywood film roles...
.
Nuyen appeared on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and in film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s, including South Pacific
South Pacific (film)
South Pacific is a 1958 musical romance film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, and based on James A. Michener's Tales of the South Pacific...
(1958), Satan Never Sleeps
Satan Never Sleeps
Satan Never Sleeps , a film directed by Leo McCarey , is his final film. It is about a priest, Father O'Banion , who arrives at a mission-post in China accompanied by a young native girl, Siu Lan , who has joined him along the way...
(1962), A Girl Named Tamiko
A Girl Named Tamiko
A Girl Named Tamiko is a 1962 drama film directed by John Sturges.He was half Oriental...but he used the women of two continents WITHOUT SHAME OR GUILT!....
(with Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
) (1962), Diamond Head
Diamond Head (film)
Diamond Head is a film starring Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, George Chakiris, and James Darren, directed by Guy Green, and released by Columbia Pictures. The original music score was composed by John Williams, Hugo Winterhalter composed the theme, and Darren sang the title song...
(1963), Dimension 5 (1966), Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Battle for the Planet of the Apes is a 1973 science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson. It is the fifth and last entry in the original Planet of the Apes series produced by Arthur P...
(1973), and The Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club (film)
The Joy Luck Club is a 1993 American film about the relationships between Chinese-American women and their Chinese mothers. It is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bass. The film was produced by Oliver Stone and directed by Wayne Wang...
(1993). She continues to appear in films and recently appeared in the film The American Standards (2007). In 1978, Nuyen guest starred with Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
and Louis Jourdan in the Columbo episode Murder Under Glass. In 1986, she joined the cast of St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
as Dr. Paulette Kiem, remaining until the series ended in 1988.
From 1963 to 1966, Nuyen was married to Dr. Thomas Gaspar Morell, a psychiatrist, by whom she has a daughter Fleur, who resides in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and works as a film makeup artist. She met her second husband, Robert Culp
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
, while appearing on his show I Spy. They married in 1967 but divorced three years later. Nuyen and Culp were to appear as co-hosts of the second episode of the TV series Turn-On
Turn-On
Turn-On is an American sketch comedy series that aired on ABC in February 1969. Only one episode was shown and the show is considered one of the most infamous flops in TV history....
in 1969, but the show was canceled after just one week.
In 1986, Nuyen earned a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in Clinical psychology
Clinical psychology
Clinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...
and began a second career as a psychological
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
counselor
Mental Health Counselor
Mental health counselors practice mental health counseling which is a dynamic, holistic, strengths-based and psychoeducational discipline born in the late 1970s when several mental health professionals realized that the master’s degree level counselors working in community settings lacked a...
for abused
Physical abuse
Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
women and children, and women in prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. She received a Woman of the Year
Woman of the Year
Woman of the Year is a romantic comedy film. The movie is about an emancipated woman, chosen "Woman of the Year", and her colleague-turned-husband and their efforts to negotiate a path to marital bliss....
award in 1989 for her psychological work.
Filmography
- South PacificSouth Pacific (film)South Pacific is a 1958 musical romance film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, and based on James A. Michener's Tales of the South Pacific...
(1958) - In Love and WarIn Love and War (1958 film)In Love and War is a 1958 Cinemascope film based on a novel called The Big War by Anton Myrer and directed by Philip Dunne.-Plot summary:The film traces the progress of three Marines on shore leave during WWII, in the Pacific...
(1958) - The Last Time I Saw Archie ... Cindy Hamilton (1961)
- Satan Never SleepsSatan Never SleepsSatan Never Sleeps , a film directed by Leo McCarey , is his final film. It is about a priest, Father O'Banion , who arrives at a mission-post in China accompanied by a young native girl, Siu Lan , who has joined him along the way...
(1962) - A Girl Named TamikoA Girl Named TamikoA Girl Named Tamiko is a 1962 drama film directed by John Sturges.He was half Oriental...but he used the women of two continents WITHOUT SHAME OR GUILT!....
(1962) - Diamond HeadDiamond Head (film)Diamond Head is a film starring Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, George Chakiris, and James Darren, directed by Guy Green, and released by Columbia Pictures. The original music score was composed by John Williams, Hugo Winterhalter composed the theme, and Darren sang the title song...
(1963) - Dimension 5 (1966)
- Battle for the Planet of the ApesBattle for the Planet of the ApesBattle for the Planet of the Apes is a 1973 science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson. It is the fifth and last entry in the original Planet of the Apes series produced by Arthur P...
(1973) - The Joy Luck ClubThe Joy Luck Club (film)The Joy Luck Club is a 1993 American film about the relationships between Chinese-American women and their Chinese mothers. It is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bass. The film was produced by Oliver Stone and directed by Wayne Wang...
(1993) - China CryChina CryChina Cry is a 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 eager to become part of Mao Tse Tung's "new society". But the Maoist...
(1990)
Television appearances
- GunsmokeGunsmokeGunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E.The Man from U.N.C.L.E.The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
(1965) "The Cherry Blossom Affair" - I Spy
- Star TrekStar Trek: The Original SeriesStar Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
(1968) "Elaan of Troyius" - Kung FuKung Fu (TV series)Kung Fu is an American television series that starred David Carradine. It was created by Ed Spielman, directed and produced by Jerry Thorpe, and developed by Herman Miller, who was also a writer for, and co-producer of, the series...
- Medical CenterMedical Center (TV series)Medical Center is a medical drama series which aired on CBS from 1969 to 1976.-Synopsis:The show starred James Daly as Dr. Paul Lochner and Chad Everett as Dr. Joe Gannon, surgeons working in an otherwise unnamed university hospital in Los Angeles. The show focused both on the lives of the doctors...
- Hawaii Five-OHawaii Five-OHawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
- Charlie's AngelsCharlie's AngelsCharlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
- Columbo (1978) "Murder Under Glass"
- Fantasy IslandFantasy IslandFantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...
(1978) "Return to Fantasy Island" - St. ElsewhereSt. ElsewhereSt. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...