How a Cambodian physician became an Oscar-winning actor to honor his wife's memory

Art · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Haing S. Ngor survived the Cambodian genocide by hiding his medical expertise, only to later win an Academy Award for his debut performance. Driven by a promise to share his nation's story, he transformed from a refugee into a global voice for his people before his life ended in mystery.

Born in 1940 in French Indochina, Haing S. Ngor was a trained gynecologist and obstetrician in Phnom Penh. When the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975, he was forced to conceal his education and professional status to survive the regime's hostility toward intellectuals. During the genocide, Ngor endured brutal conditions on a rice farm, where he lost his wife, Chang My-Huoy, and their unborn child during a forced labor complication. He survived three prison terms by using his medical knowledge to scavenge for food, eventually escaping to a refugee camp in Thailand in 1979.

Ngor immigrated to the United States in 1980. Despite having no acting experience, he was cast as journalist Dith Pran in the 1984 film The Killing Fields. He initially resisted the role but accepted it to fulfill a promise to his late wife to tell the world about the starvation and death under the communist regime. His performance earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, making him the first actor of Asian descent to win the honor. He viewed the film as a permanent legacy, stating that it would survive for a hundred years.

In 1996, Ngor was murdered outside his Los Angeles home. While three gang members were convicted of the crime—prosecutors argued they killed him for refusing to surrender a locket containing a photo of his wife—speculation persisted that the killing was politically motivated by Khmer Rouge sympathizers. Despite claims from a former Khmer Rouge official that Pol Pot ordered the hit, U.S. investigators found no evidence to support this. Ngor left behind a legacy of humanitarian work, including the Dr. Haing S. Ngor Foundation, which supported Cambodian aid and local infrastructure.

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