ហាំង សំណាង (ង៉ោ) Ngor (1940 - 1996)

Born 22 Mar 1940 in Samrong, PreyNob, Kampot, Cambodia

Died 25 Feb 1996 at age 55 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

Biography

Haing (ង៉ោ) Ngor is Notable.

Hiang S. Ngor was a Cambodian-born American actor, gynecologist, and obstetrician. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985 for his debut performance in the film The Killing Fields (1984), in which he portrayed Cambodian journalist and refugee Dith Pran.

Hiang S. Ngor was born 22 Mar 1940, in Samrong Young, Cambodia. He trained as a surgeon and gynecologist and was practicing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1975 when the population of the city was ordered out of the city after the Khmer Rouge takeover.

Ngor and his family were sent to the country's Northwest, where under brutal conditions they were used as forced labor. To protect himself, he denied his education. As an educated professional, he would undoubtedly have been killed during Pol Pot's purges. In a dreadful irony, Khmer Rouge guards allowed his wife to die in childbirth shortly after their interment. When the Khmer Rouge fell in 1979, he and his niece, took refuge in Thailand, where Ngor once again worked as a doctor in the Thai refugee camp. On August 30, 1980 they emigrated to the United States.

In 1984, Ngor was offered the movie role of photographer Dith Pran. Ngor said much of his decision to take the role was based on a promise to his late wife to tell Cambodia's story. He won both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 1985 for 'The Killing Fields' making him the first non-professional in 50 years to win an Oscar. In 1988, he wrote 'Haing Ngor: A Cambodian Odyssey', detailing his life under the Khmer Rouge.

Ngor appeared in over a dozen more films including 'Heaven & Earth' and 'My Life' in 1993 and 'Vanishing Son' in 1994. He founded the Dr. Haing S. Ngor Foundation for Cambodian aid for the benefit of fellow refugees. On February 25, 1996, Ngor was shot to death outside his home in Chinatown, Los Angeles. Three members of an Asian street gang were later arrested and convicted of Ngor's murder. After the release of 'The Killing Fields,' Ngor told the New York Times, "If I die from now on, okay! This film will go on for a hundred years."

Bio by: Iola

Sources

See also:

• Wikipedia: Haing S. Ngor
• Wikidata: Item Q312364, en:Wikipedia
• Find A Grave: Memorial #5681