The women in the life of artist Nam Chau

Nguyen Thanh Chau (also known as Nam Chau) was a multi-talented artist. He was an actor, a stage manager, a director, and a screenwriter; he was also a handsome leading man, a talented singer, and a skilled actor, captivating audiences of his time.

Báo Thanh niên•05/07/2025

Having many wives is different from having many wives.

Năm Châu was born in 1906 in Điều Hòa village, Châu Thành district, in the former Mỹ Tho province. He was a playwright with many memorable cải lương (Vietnamese traditional opera) plays, the first drama professor at the Saigon National School of Music , and the manager of many famous theater troupes from the 1930s. In the tradition room of Nguyễn Đình Chiểu High School (Mỹ Tho) today, his name is placed in a prominent position alongside other famous figures who were former students of Collège de Mytho.

The women in artist Nam Chau's life - Photo 1.

Artist Nam Chau - PHOTO: ARCHIVE

In an interview with the magazine Bach Khoa (September 1, 1968), artist Nam Chau said: "In my youth, I was not very promiscuous. Whenever I fell in love with someone, I planned to live together. That's why I had many wives and many children." He reiterated that it was many wives, not many wives!

Artist Năm Châu recounted that in 1926, at the age of 20, he married his first wife in Mỹ Tho, and they had three children before separating. He didn't mention her name; she was Miss Sáu Trâm, the leading actress of the Tái Đồng Ban troupe. At the age of 32, he met Miss Tư Sạng, a famous female singer whose voice was exclusively recorded by the Asia record company from 1940 to 1955, with albums such as " Hoa rơi cửa Phật" (Flowers Falling at the Buddha's Gate) and "Xử án Bàng Quý Phi" (The Trial of Bàng Quý Phi)... They lived together and had five children before going their separate ways.

His eldest son with Ms. Tư Sạng, Nguyễn Thành Văn, was adopted by theater manager Trần Đắc, who oversaw the Tây Đô cinema in Cần Thơ . His second child was Thanh Hương, wife of actor Văn Chung. In 1960, she was voted "the number one female Vọng Cổ singer" by readers of Trần Tấn Quốc's newspaper, Tiếng Dội Miền Nam. She became famous for the song " Cô bán đèn hoa giấy" (The Paper Lantern Seller ) by composer Quy Sắc.

According to playwright Nguyen Phuong, during the evacuation, artist Nam Chau met Kim Cuc, the daughter of artist Bay Nhieu, the director of the Nam Phuong theater troupe, who was performing in Go Cong. They had seven children together.

Regarding Ms. Bay Phung Ha, artist Nam Chau said: "Phung Ha and I lived together as husband and wife for almost a year. After that, because we both felt we weren't bringing happiness to each other, we agreed to separate. But back in 1940, when I established the Nam Chau opera troupe, I had another wife before meeting Kim Cuc."

Extraordinary figures of Vietnamese traditional opera.

As a multi-talented artist, Nam Chau collaborated with troupes such as Tieu Hoc Ban (1925), Tai Dong Ban (1926), Tran Dac (1927), Dai Phuoc Cuong (1936)... and served as director of the Nam Chau Opera Troupe (1940), Ban Con Tam (1946), Ban Viet Kich Nam Chau (1948 - 1955) and the Anh Chieu Duong Troupe (1967).

Regarding playwriting, he wrote many cải lương plays: Giọt lệ cương thường, Võ Tòng sát tẩu, Mộc Quế Anh dâng cây, Ngọn cờ hiệp nữ (banned by the French colonialists), Bến mười hai … In addition, he also directed and wrote screenplays for films. In 1956, he wrote the story Quan Âm Thị Kính and collaborated with Mỹ Vân Film Company to make this film, which was a huge success, with theaters packed wherever it was shown. Afterwards, he wrote the fairy tale screenplay Người đẹp Bình Dương and chose Thẩm Thúy Hằng for the lead role. From then on, Thẩm Thúy Hằng became known as the beauty of Bình Dương.

At one time, Nam Chau also did dubbing for foreign films, and he had the unique idea of incorporating vong co (traditional Vietnamese folk singing) into movies. In 1957, when the Indian film " Wind and Dust of the Capital" was shown at Tan Dinh cinema, audiences had to queue to buy tickets because the film's main actor, Ganessan, an Indian, sang vong co very beautifully. It turned out that Nam Chau had adapted the Indian song into Vietnamese lyrics, and the singer in the film was the king of vong co, Ut Tra On.

In the magazine Bach Khoa , when asked what characteristics of artist Phung Ha captivated audiences, artist Nam Chau said: "Even we are captivated whenever we perform together on stage, let alone the audience!" He commented: "It's strange. Bay Phung Ha wasn't beautiful. She had a round face, pockmarked cheeks, and a slightly plump figure. Yet, when she acted, whether playing a village girl, a noble lady, or a queen, she was strangely beautiful in every role, captivating the audience."

Another unusual case is that of actress Nam Phi, who, despite being illiterate, was able to learn traditional Vietnamese opera. Nam Chau recounted: "Heaven bestowed upon Nam Phi exceptional intelligence. Because she was illiterate, someone would read the opera script to her. But she only needed to read it once to remember it perfectly. Nam Phi's singing was terrible, and she was often off-beat, so the music had to be adapted accordingly. Yet, when she went on stage, she performed brilliantly, captivating the audience in a truly extraordinary way."

Trouble because… he's handsome.

In his youth, artist Nam Chau was quite handsome, so when he went on tour, he was admired by many girls from the countryside. But his good looks also led to many troubles. He recounted that once, when the Tai Dong Ban troupe was performing at Hoc Mon market, there was a girl named Bay Phung Ha. One morning, the troupe was rehearsing, and the theater doors were wide open, so many girls gathered to watch. One girl was holding her baby and defecated on a chair, so the owner of the troupe scolded her. She cursed back and got slapped.

So the child rolled on the ground screaming while another child ran to call an adult to scold them. Seeing this, the father stepped out to mediate, but the child's mother threw the chili glue she was holding in her hand at his face. Just as the child's father jumped forward to argue, he got hit by the chili glue, staining his clothes red... (to be continued)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhung-bong-hong-trong-doi-nghe-si-nam-chau-185250705204638736.htm