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 Revolution’s forces and operated the Bac Giang’s People Artistic Troupe. His promotion to the National Theatre in 1948 saw him become a full-time professional actor under the guidance of Thế Lữ, and soon he started starring in the Theatre’s 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 post-colonial 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 year’s Vietnam Film Festival, and Mạnh Linh was awarded the title People’s Artist.
In 1996, the actor went on trial on charge of being an accomplice in his daughter’s debt evasion case and was sentenced to 8 years in prison, prompting the state to strip him off the People’s 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.
