Mạnh Linh

Mạnh Linh born 6th April 1929 as Phạm Văn Lạng is a Vietnamese actor stage director and former director of Vietnam National Theatre A renowned stage actor he had worked in several troupes prior to 1945 upon which he joined the Revolutions forces and operated the Bac Giangs People Artistic Troupe His promotion to the National Theatre in 1948 saw him become a fulltime professional actor under the guidance of Thế Lữ and soon he started starring in the Theatres major productions He briefly worked in the Soviet Union mostly taking on the lead roles in Leniniana plays by Mikhail Shatrov and Nikolai Pogodin for his achievements during this stint Mạnh Linh was awarded the Order of Lenin Mạnh Linh also enjoyed significant success as a film actor In 1959 he starred in Chung một dòng sông the first film to be made in North Vietnam postcolonial French era and a hallmark of 1960s Vietnamese revolutionary cinema His later projects often with director Hải Ninh were also critically acclaimed with the most successful being Tướng về hưu The General Retires in 1988 The film won the highest award at that years Vietnam Film Festival and Mạnh Linh was awarded the title Peoples Artist In 1996 the actor went on trial on charge of being an accomplice in his daughters debt evasion case and was sentenced to 8 years in prison prompting the state to strip him off the Peoples Artist title Due to old age he was allowed by the court to remain in his home and his whereabouts are not heard of ever since It is often believed that he had passed away in the 2010s