Merited Artist Le Mai was born in 1938 in Hai Phong. She comes from a family where both parents work in the field of theater arts. Her father is poet – playwright Le Dai Thanh, he worked in the Central Drama Troupe (now Vietnam Drama Theater) at the same time as The Lu and Song Kim.
The two younger siblings Le Mai’s younger brother also made a name for himself in the field of art, painter Le Dai Chuc and director and Meritorious Artist Le Chuc.
In 1954, she followed her father to Hanoi to take a job with the Theater Troupe. The Central Committee is headed by writer and playwright Hoc Phi. Here, Le Mai met and married People’s Artist Tran Tien.
But due to rifts in family relationships, the two later divorced, and Mr. Tran Tien passed away recently. one year. Her three daughters and People’s Artist Tran Tien all became famous artists: Le Van, Le Khanh and Le Vi.
At the age of 85, artist Le Mai enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren. In her free time, she still goes to the market to meet friends to chat.
Sharing with the reporter Dan Tri, artist Le Mai said that for more than 2 years now, she has been married. People’s Artist Le Khanh’s family has moved to Phan Dinh Phung to live with her, so she is happier. If she feels well every day, she still goes to the market to help her children with housework. At the beginning of the alley there is an iced tea shop, so every day she goes there to chat and watch people passing by.
“My schedule is: After having breakfast, go to the cafe and sit until noon and wake up at 3pm “I went to the restaurant again. I was very happy when I got there. The audience recognized Le Mai and asked to take pictures a lot,” she confided.
Artist Le Mai added that the day before she was with her youngest daughter. Le Vi in Phu Thuong (Tay Ho). After that, Le Vi returned to France and she gave Le Khanh that house. Recently, Le Khanh moved back to live with her grandmother in Phan Dinh Phung. And Le Van lives on Thuy Khue street with her Dutch husband and children. Occasionally, Le Van often comes to her house to pick her up to go for a walk or eat delicious food that she likes.
The female artist shared that she also has few friends, so when she retired, she didn’t meet her. many people. The friend she hangs out with the most is artist Kim Xuyen. The two of them worked together at the Hanoi Drama Theater so they have many memories together.
“I often meet Kim Xuyen Thanh Tu to chat. We work together so we have time to bond when we meet and have more things to talk about. Le Khanh often took me to Kim Xuyen’s house to… gossip. Or sometimes Xuyen also comes to Phan Dinh Phung to talk to me,” artist Le Mai shared.
Mrs. Le Mai has nearly 20 years working at the Hanoi Drama Theater, those were her childhood days. her memorable spring. However, the veteran artist also regretted that in later years, because of her health, she could not work as a stage actress.
“After 3 births, her health was poor. I’m very weak and only weigh 34kg. Due to lack of strength and not being an actor, the agency asked me to be treasurer. I also had to nod because I have a small child and can’t fully concentrate on my work.
If I go on a show, if I have allowance money, I can buy an extra pound of butter and a few cartons of milk every month to keep. The fund is nothing, but still, I still have a salary and a job to raise my children,” artist Le Mai recounted.
She shared that every day she collects money for performing every night and then rides again the next morning. She took her car to the bank in Bo Ho to deposit it. Every month she went to withdraw money to pay everyone’s salary, so that day she also worked part-time.
Artist Le Mai recounted: “I receive items from Dong Xuan market to sew to earn more to support my children. At that time, the government was against trafficking, so once I put a big bag on the back of my bicycle to return goods, and the police called me to search and confiscate it. When the two guys opened it, they saw a piece of paper. They asked what it was. I said it was an invitation to act in a movie and I was forgiven. At that time, the audience admired the actors very much…”.
Mrs. Le Mai shared that in 1982, she retired and was then invited by a number of directors to act film television with works like: Grandma doesn’t like to eat Sticky Rice Pizza… With each role, she does her part well to express the character’s personality.
“In later years Maybe it’s because I’m old that I don’t get offers to act in movies anymore. When I was working on a movie, I still rode my motorbike to those scenes. Now I can’t walk because I have shingles and can’t blink. Lately, I’ve had bone and joint pain, leg pain, and difficulty walking, so I had to stay at home for treatment for a while,” artist Le Mai confided.
At the age of over 80, artist Le Mai is living a peaceful life with her children and grandchildren. She is proud that she has 3 talented and beautiful daughters with certain achievements in art.
“I think I’m lucky to have 3 grown-up children like that. Daughter Le Van and Le Vi have stepped back from the stage for many years to take care of their small family. Only Le Khanh has recently participated in many movie game shows. The children can do whatever they want as long as they are happy and I am happy ” she confided.
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