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Tiana Warner Biography & Facts

Tiana Alexandra-Silliphant (born Du Thi Thanh Nga, August 11, 1956) is a Vietnamese-American actress and filmmaker. Her indie movie From Hollywood to Hanoi [1] was the first American documentary feature film shot in Vietnam by a Vietnamese-American. Tiana's life's work, Why Viet Nam?, is about her personal story as a child of war and a widow of peace. Alexandra made her feature film debut in Sam Peckinpah's The Killer Elite, co-written by her husband, Stirling Silliphant. Currently, Alexandra is director of Hampton-Silliphant Productions with Sir Christopher Hampton. Early life Alexandra was born in Saigon, Vietnam in 1956. Her father Dư Phước Long, was a South Vietnamese politician, serving as Director of Press in Saigon and Cultural Attaché in Washington DC for the US allied administration of President Ngô Đình Diệm. Alexandra's father moved the family to Fairfax, Virginia, in 1966 after the assassination of President Diệm. He worked at the South Vietnamese Embassy in Washington, DC, and pursued studies at Georgetown University's Diplomatic School and Johns Hopkins University's Graduate School of Advanced International Studies. He became Patrick Du Long and became a scriptwriter and newscaster for the Voice of America. He authored a book, The Dream Shattered: Vietnamese Gangs in America. In 1998, he was a candidate for the California State Assembly. Alexandra attended Thomas Jefferson Junior High School in Arlington, Virginia during the worst years of desegregation. After certain instances of reported abuse at her school, Tiana sought out Bruce Lee as her Jeet Kune Do self defense master. Bruce, who was not yet an international movie star, honed her interest in both the performing arts and martial arts. Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee crowned her TianaKaratePrincess and introduced her to his best friend Bruce Lee, at his National Tournament in Washington, DC. Bruce Lee introduced Alexandra to his best friend, Stirling Silliphant, who was "Hollywood highest paid screenwriter". Alexandra and Stirling Silliphant were married in a ceremony at Chasen's Restaurant in West Hollywood on July 4, 1974. As reported by CBS News, the celebrity event included Robert Wagner, Natalie Wood, William Holden and Henry Mancini. Career Hollywood career Silliphant's blockbuster films The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, coupled with his newlywed status with Alexandra, led to their joint appearances on television talk and game shows such as The Mike Douglas Show [1], The Reed Ferrell Show [2], and Tattletales [3] and [4] during the mid-1970s. Alexandra made her film debut in Sam Peckinpah's martial-arts thriller The Killer Elite with Robert Duvall and James Caan. Being a key advocate for diversity, her efforts were rewarded when she became the first Vietnamese-American to join the Screen Actors Guild. In 1978, Alexandra starred with Angie Dickenson, Robert Wagner, and Dennis Weaver as Holly Nagata in the ABC mini-seriesPearl [6], which dramatized the events surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1981, Alexandra starred with Bruce Boxleitner and Brian Dennehy as Mai, a Vietnamese medic, in the Warner Bros. made-for-television feature film Fly Away Home. The film critically examined the entanglement of politics and human suffering on the ground during the Vietnam War. As an Asian actress breaking through racial stereotypes, Alexandra was invited to speak out on the realities of Hollywood typecasting at venues such as the Philippine Film Festival, where she appeared with Robert Duvall in the Symposium on Film Acting. Alexandra starred as reporter Jan Du Long in the 1987 Aaron Spelling-produced, made-for-TV movie The Three Kings (1987).[10] That same year, she starred opposite Rod Steiger as Checkers Goldberg in the Kung Fu feature sendup, Catch the Heat. [12] With her martial arts finesse in top form in 1986, Alexandra produced a fitness program called "Karate-cize," combining elements of dance, combat art, and original pop music. Martial arts champion Eric Lee collaborated with Alexandra on the self-defense segments of the show. Music career Between 1983 and 1985, Alexandra was managed by Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones and created numerous pop songs and music videos for radio and MTV. Her "Dumped On," [1 "Lust in the e Jungle,"  and "Free As I Want to Be[3 music videos were shot on location in New Zealand, Hong Kong, Yugoslavia, and Los Angeles. Alexandra's music video of Bruce Lee, "Feel the Heat," was revamped in congruence with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 40th Anniversary Celebration of Bruce Lee's breakout film, Enter the Dragon. From Hollywood to Hanoi In 1988, Alexandra began pre-production on her first film, From Hollywood to Hanoi. Stemming from a trip taken earlier that year with a delegation of Vietnam veterans and filmmakers (in part on the advice of Alexandra's acting teacher Sandra Seacat, who predicted that a return to Alexandra's roots would prove enormously empowering), the feature-length documentary was written, produced, and directed by Alexandra, and executive produced by Oliver Stone, who had himself taken part in Alexandra's delegation to Hanoi and strongly urged her to record the experience on film. From Hollywood to Hanoi was the first American film shot on location in Vietnam. It was shown at top film festivals [3] and movie theaters across the U.S. and highlighted the plight of Amerasians as well as the devastating effects of Agent Orange. It was acclaimed by the New York Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Variety, Hollywood Report, Boston Globe, Playboy, Washington Post, and Time Magazine. Notable personalities, including Allen Ginsberg, Oliver Stone, Michael Moore, and Studs Turkel, became Alexandra's fans. But distribution wasnonexistentt at the time for award-winning documentaries, so the film's volunteer team, led by the poet Steven Kauffman, distributed the film in theaters and with Alexandra touring across America's college campuses. From Hollywood to Hanoi went into theatrical release in 1995 and was broadcast as part of the HBO Cinemax Vanguard Cinema series. It was well received by critics: Kevin Thomas of the LA Times lauded it as "moving and engrossing" [2 and Vincent Canby of The New York Times hailed it as "an intense, personal, supremely self-confident feature." The film was named "Best of the Fest" at the Telluride Film Festival [4] and was nominated for "Best Non-Fiction Film" at the Sundance International Festival [5], where it was presented by Michael Moore. The film was also screened on Capitol Hill to help lift the trade embargo by then-Senator John Kerry. Alexandra was invited to participate in International Women's Day with Betty Friedan, Stevie Wonder, and Barbara Trent. Tiana made feature guest appearances to talk about her film on The Today Show with Bryant Gumbel, [8] The PBS NewsHour with Charlayne Hunter Gault, [9] and The KTLA Morning News with Regis Philbin. Filming Vietnamese leaders.... Discover the Tiana Warner popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Tiana Warner books.