France Nuyen

France Nuyen (born France Nguyễn Vân Nga on 31 July 1939) is a French-American actress, model, and psychological counsellor. She is known to film audiences for playing romantic leads in South Pacific (1958), Satan Never Sleeps (1962), and A Girl Named Tamiko (also 1962), and for playing Ying-Ying St. Clair in The Joy Luck Club (1993). 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 in Marseille. Her mother was French, and her father was widely reported to be Vietnamese, although she has stated that he was "probably of Chinese origin". 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." Having left school at the age of 11, she began studying art and became an artist's model. In 1955, while working as a seamstress, Nuyen was discovered on the beach by Life photographer Philippe Halsman. She was featured on the cover of 6 October 1958 issue of Life.