Tiana Alexandra
| Tiana Alexandra-Silliphant | |
|---|---|
Tiana by Ted Allan
|
|
| Born |
Thi Thanh Nga August 11, 1961 Saigon, Vietnam |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation |
Actress Activist |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Spouse(s) | Stirling Silliphant (1974–1996; deceased; 1 child) |
| Website | www |
Tiana Alexandra-Silliphant (Thi Thanh Nga; August 11, 1961) is a Vietnamese-American actress and filmmaker. Her award-winning 1992 film From Hollywood to Hanoi, was the first American documentary feature film shot in Vietnam by a Vietnamese American. It was shown at film festivals and movie theaters across the U.S., and highlighted the plight of Amerasians, as well as the devastating effects of Agent Orange.
Tiana starred opposite actors Robert Duvall, James Caan and Rod Steiger in feature films such as Sam Peckinpah’s The Killer Elite, and Catch The Heat. She also starred in the made-for-television features Pearl and Fly Away Home, written by her late husband Stirling Silliphant. Tiana was Associate Producer on David Cronenberg’s 2011 feature film A Dangerous Method.
Tiana’s film The General & Me (in post production as of April 2015) focuses on her 25-year relationship with General Võ Nguyên Giáp, Ho Chi Minh’s trusted military strategist during the Indochina and Vietnam Wars.
Tiana Alexandra (Thi Thanh Nga) was born in Saigon, Vietnam in 1956. Her father Dư Phước Long, was a South Vietnamese politician, serving as Director of Press in Saigon and Cultural Attaché in Washington D.C. for the U.S. allied administration of President Ngô Đình Diệm.
Tiana’s father moved the family to Fairfax, Virginia in 1966 after the assassination of President Diệm. He worked at the South Vietnamese Embassy in Washington D.C., and pursued studies at Georgetown University’s Diplomatic School and Johns Hopkins University’s Graduate School of Advanced International Studies. He adopted the name Patrick Du Long and became a scriptwriter and newscaster for the Voice of America. He authored a book entitled The Dream Shattered: Vietnamese Gangs in America, and was a candidate for the California State Assembly in 1998.
While attending Fairfax High School in Virginia, Tiana honed her interest in both the performing and martial arts. At Master Jhoon Rhee’s Nationals Tournament in Washington D.C., Tiana met Bruce Lee and became his protege. Bruce Lee introduced Tiana to his martial arts student, and close friend, Hollywood writer Stirling Silliphant. Silliphant had written Bruce Lee into numerous TV shows, including Longstreet, which he adapted for Lee from Raymond Chandler’s movie Marlowe. Silliphant had also written most of the episodes for the acclaimed television series Route 66, and won an Oscar for Best Screenplay on the feature film In the Heat of the Night.
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