Anh Do

Anh Do
Anh Do with wife Suzanne in 2005, walking the red carpet at the premiere of Footy Legends
Born	Anh Do (1977-06-02) 2 June 1977 Vietnam
Occupation	Actor, stand-up comedian, author
Spouse(s)	Suzanne
Children	4
Website	http://www.anhdo.com/

Anh Do (born 2 June 1977) is a Vietnamese-born Australian author, actor, comedian, and artist. He has appeared on many Australian TV shows such as Thank God You're Here and Good News Week, and was runner-up on Dancing With The Stars in 2007. He studied a combined Business Law degree at the University of Technology, Sydney.^[1] He is the brother of film director Khoa Do and has acted in several of Khoa's films, including Footy Legends, which he co-wrote and produced. In 2012, his TV show Anh Does Vietnam began airing. He was a finalist in the 2014 Archibald Prize.

Biography

Refugee

Anh Do and his family fled to Australia as refugees in 1980.^[2] In his 2010 autobiography, The Happiest Refugee, Do tells of how his family survived five days in a leaky fishing boat nine and a half metres long and two metres wide. During the trip his family and the rest of the passengers were attacked by two different bands of pirates. The first group stole one out of the two engines and the second group of pirates stole the second engine, which had been broken but repaired by Anh's father using a piece of rubber from a thong. It was reported that as the second band of pirates left, one of them threw a gallon of water onboard which kept all but one of the refugees alive, until they were finally rescued by a German Merchant ship.^[3] The boat was packed with 40 Vietnamese refugees fleeing across the Indian Ocean. "We were crammed in like sardines," he said.^[4] The Happiest Refugee has won many awards, including the 2011 Australian Book of the Year, Biography of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, as well as the Indie Book of the Year Award 2011, Non-fiction Indie Book of the Year 2011, and it was shortlisted for the 2011 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Community Relations Commission Award.^[5]

Career

Anh Do attended St Aloysius' College in Milsons Point for his secondary education.^[6] When he was 14 he started a small business breeding tropical fish. While studying his first year of law at the University of Technology, Sydney, he owned a stall which sold American-Indian artefacts, which he later expanded to four franchised stores. Six months before finishing his combined Business Law degree, law firms offered him jobs which required 60 hours of work a week. He opted to take up stand-up comedy instead.^[2] Since 2013 Do has cut back on comedy to focus on painting full-time again and was a finalist in the Archibald Prize in 2014.

In 2016, Do hosted Anh’s Brush with Fame.^[7]

Personal life

Anh Do is married to Suzanne (Suzie) and they have three sons and a daughter.^[8] His mother, Hien, played the role of Van Nguyen's mother, Kim, in Better Man, a film which was produced by Khoa Do.^[9]

Awards

• 2011 Independent Booksellers Book of the Year^[10] (for The Happiest Refugee)
• 2011 Joint winner (with musician Paul Kelly) of the Biography of the Year^[11] (for The Happiest Refugee)
• 2011 Best Newcomer (for The Happiest Refugee)
• 2011 Book of the Year (for The Happiest Refugee)

Acting filmography

• Double the Fist (2008) as Krakbot
• Crooked Business (2008) as Benny Wing
• Kick (2007) as Hoa Tran
• Footy Legends (2006) as Luc Vu
• Solo (2006) as Nguyen
• Pizza as Chong Fat (2005–2007)
• Blue Water High – (Episode: It's Hard to Be Normal) (2005) as Robbo
• Little Fish (2005) as Tran
• The Finished People (2003) as Factory Worker
• All Saints (2003) (Episode: The Devil to Pay) as Tim Salter
• Don't Blame Me (2002) as Vinnie
• SeaChange (2000) as Quan Tho

Filmography (as himself)

• Anh’s Brush with Fame (2016) as host
• Anh Does Brazil (2014) as host
• Anh Does Iceland (2014) as host
• Anh Does Scandinavia (2014) as host
• Anh Does Britain (2013) as host
• Anh Does Vietnam, (2012) as host
• Talking Heads (2010, Series 6 Episode 33) guest
• Top Gear Australia (2009) as guest
• The Squiz (2009) as host
• Made In China (2008) as host
• Short and Curly as host
• Deal or No Deal Special (2007) as Contestant (Won maximum prize of $200,000)
• Dancing with the Stars (2007) as contestant
• Thank God You're Here (2006 & 2007) as contestant
• The NRL Footy Show, comedian
• Matty Johns Show as himself in segment Anh Can Do
• Pictures of You, as guest

References

External links

• Official website
• Anh Do at the Internet Movie Database