Vietnamese actor Don Duong dies

Don Duong, a Vietnamese actor who felt compelled to go away the country following a military newspaper labeled him a traitor to consider roles in American films, died Thursday, 12 ,. 8, of heart failure together with a brain hemorrhage in San Francisco Bay Area. He was 55.After Duong came out with Patrick Swayze in Timothy Linh Bui's 2001 drama "Eco-friendly Dragon," about Vietnamese refugees inside the U.S., too as with the 2002 Mel Gibson vehicle "I Had Been Soldiers," a Vietnam war epic showing the initial major fight including American forces and shot entirely inside the U.S., the actor came the scorn in the military, official media together with other stars in Vietnam.The Quan Doi Nhan Serta (People Military) daily newspaper referred to as Duong's actions "unforgivable" and mentioned the "conscience-seller and traitor ought to be strictly disciplined," while film director Duong Minh Dau mentioned the actor had insulted Vietnam by "turning his back on his country and also the people," in line with the BBC.The handsome Duong had many female fans within the u . s . states, but he nevertheless departed in 2003 for your U.S., where he subsequently increased to become citizen. Vietnamese government physiques declined him a visa for just about any return visit permission was granted this year, but he was unable to produce the trip before he died.Duong came out in director Tony Bui's "Three Seasons" in 1999. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com