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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_killing_fields_of_dr_haing_s_ngor.jpg]]
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3Haing Somnang Ngor (Khmer: ហាំង សំណាង ង៉ោ, March 22, 1940 – February 25, 1996) was a UsefulNotes/{{Cambodia}}n-[=American=] actor of Cambodian and Chinese descent.
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5Ngor first trained as a surgeon and gynecologist. In the late 1970s, he managed to survive three terms in prison camps during the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_genocide Cambodian genocide]], using his medical knowledge to keep himself alive by eating beetles, termites, and scorpions. Tragically, while Ngor and his wife were in a camp, she died giving birth, and their child did not survive. Although he was trained, he could not perform the necessary C-section without exposing himself, which likely would have resulted in the deaths of him, his wife, and their child. After managing to escape Cambodia, he worked in a refugee camp in UsefulNotes/{{Thailand}}, and then moved to America.
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7Unable to resume his medicine practice in the US, and despite not having trained as an actor before, Ngor was cast in the role of a [[MetaCasting fellow]] [[ActorSharedBackground Cambodian]] GenocideSurvivor, journalist Dith Pran, in ''Film/TheKillingFields'', which ended up becoming his best-known and most acclaimed role. He won the [[MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestActorInASupportingRole Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]] for his performance (and that was very much AwardCategoryFraud considering his screentime in the film), and in doing so became the first actor of Asian descent to win the award, as well as the only one until Creator/KeHuyQuan won it 38 years later for ''Film/EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce''. He appeared in a dozen other productions afterwards.
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9Ngor was murdered at the age of 55 in a bungled robbery outside his home in Los Angeles on February 25, 1996.
10----
11!!Selected filmography:
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13* ''Film/TheKillingFields'' (1984) as Dith Pran
14* ''Film/EasternCondors'' (1987) Yeung Lung
15* ''Film/MyLife'' (1993) as Mr. Ho
16* ''Film/HeavenAndEarth'' (1993) as Papa

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