Anh Do (born 2 June 1977) is a Vietnamese-born Australian author, actor, comedian, and painter. He has appeared on Australian TV shows such as ''

Thank God You're Here ''Thank God You're Here'' is an Australian television improvised comedy program created by Working Dog Productions, which premiered on Network Ten on 5 April 2006, and aired for the first three seasons and on Seven for the fourth season. Ea ...

'' and ''

Good News Week ''Good News Week'' is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten ...

'', and was runner-up on ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series ''Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

'' in 2007. He studied a combined Business Law degree at the

University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 202 ...

. He is the brother of film director Khoa Do and has acted in several of Khoa's films, including ''

Footy Legends ''Footy Legends'' is a 2006 Australian film, directed and co-written by Khoa Do, produced by Megan McMurchy, starring Khoa's older brother and co-writer Anh Do, Angus Sampson, Emma Lung and Claudia Karvan. It was filmed in and around the Syd ...

'', which he co-wrote and produced. In 2012, his TV show ''Anh Does Vietnam'' began airing. He has been four times a finalist in the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor ...

and won the 2017 People's Choice Award. Since 2016, Do has hosted '' Anh's Brush with Fame'' on ABC TV in which he concurrently interviews and paints a portrait of prominent Australians.

Biography

Refugee

Anh Do and his family fled to Australia as refugees in 1980. 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 of the two engines and the second group of pirates stole the second engine, which had been broken but repaired by Do'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. The boat was packed with 40

Vietnamese refugees Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...

fleeing across the Indian Ocean. "We were crammed in like sardines," he said. ''The Happiest Refugee'' has won 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 The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, t ...

Community Relations Commission Award A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, villag ...

Career

Do attended St Aloysius' College in Milsons Point for his secondary education. When he was 14 he started a small business breeding tropical fish. While studying his first year of law at the

, he owned a stall which sold American Indian artifacts, 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. Since 2013 Do has cut back on comedy to focus on painting full-time. He was a finalist in the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. Since 2016, Do has hosted '' Anh's Brush with Fame'' on ABC-TV, with the fourth season airing from April to July 2019. In this popular program, Anh Do concurrently interviews and paints a portrait of prominent Australians.

Personal life

Do is married to Suzanne (Suzie) Do and they have three sons and a daughter. His mother, Hien, played the role of

Van Nguyen A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

's mother, Kim, in '' Better Man'', a film which was produced by Khoa Do.

Awards

* 2011 Independent Booksellers Book of the Year (for ''The Happiest Refugee'') * 2011 Joint winner (with musician Paul Kelly) of the Biography of the Year (for ''The Happiest Refugee'') * 2011 Best Newcomer (for ''The Happiest Refugee'') * 2011 Book of the Year (for ''The Happiest Refugee'') * 2017 People's Choice Award,

(for portrait of Jack Charles)

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the

Mo Awards The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, that where established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were l ...

), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Anh Do won one award in that time. (wins only) , - , 2012 , Anh Do , Rodney Rude Stand Up Comedian of the Year , , -

Acting filmography

* '' Double the Fist'' (2008) as Krakbot * '' Crooked Business'' (2008) as Benny Wing * ''

Kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of a ...

'' (2007) as Hoa Tran * ''

'' (2006) as Luc Vu * ''

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ' ...

'' (2006) as Nguyen * ''

Pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, ...

'' 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 ''SeaChange'' is an Australian television program that ran from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC and in 2019 on the Nine Network. It was created by Andrew Knight and Deborah Cox and starred Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, William McInnes, John Howard, ...

'' (2000) as Quan Tho

Filmography (as himself)

* '' Anh's Brush with Fame'' (2016–2021) 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 Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

'' (2010, Series 6 Episode 33) guest * ''

Top Gear Australia ''Top Gear Australia'' was an Australian motoring reality television series, based on the British BBC series '' Top Gear''. The programme first premiered on SBS One on 29 September 2008. A second season was ordered following the high ratings ...

'' (2009) as guest * '' The Squiz'' (2009) as host * ''Made in China'' (2008) as host * '' Short and Curly'' as host * ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a.k. ...

'' Special (2007) as Contestant (Won maximum prize of $200,000) * ''

'' (2007) as contestant * ''

'' (2006 & 2007) as contestant * '' The NRL Footy Show'', comedian * ''

Matty Johns Show ''The Matty Johns Show'' was an Australian variety television show largely focused on the National Rugby League (NRL) competition, starring former professional rugby league footballer Matthew "Matty" Johns. It first aired in 2010 on Thursdays ...

'' as himself in segment Anh Can Do * '' Pictures of You'', as guest * '' Long Lost Family'' as co-host

Books

* ''The Happiest Refugee'' (2010) * ''The Little Refugee '' (with Bruce Whatley) (2011) * ''WeirDo'' (2013) * ''WeirDo #2 : Even Weirder!'' (2014) * ''WeirDo #3 : Extra Weird'' (2014) * ''WeirDo #4: Super Weird!'' (2015) * ''WeirDo #5 : Totally Weird!'' (2015) * ''WeirDo #6 : Crazy Weird!'' (2016) * ''WeirDo #7 : Mega Weird!'' (2016) * ''Hot Dog!'' (Hot Dog #1) (2016) * ''What Do They do with all the Poo from all the Animals at the Zoo?'' (2016) * ''WeirDo #8 : Really Weird!'' (2017) * ''WeirDo #9 : Spooky Weird!'' (2017) * ''Hot Dog! Party Time'' (Hotdog, #2) (2017) * ''WeirDo #10 : Messy Weird!'' (2018) * ''Ninja Kid'' (2018) * ''WeirDo #11: Splashy Weird!'' (2018) *''Rise of the Mythix : Golden Unicorn'' (2019) * ''WeirDo #12: Hopping Weird!'' (2019) * ''WeirDo #13: Weirdomania!'' (2019) * ''WeirDo #14: Vote Weirdo'' (2020) * ''Rise of the Mythix: Might Minotaur'' (2020) * ''WeirDo #15: Planet Weird'' (2020) * ''Rise of the Mythix: Flight of the Griffin'' (2021) * ''WeirDo #16: Tasty Weird!'' (2021) * ''Weirdo #17: Spinning Weird'' (2021) * ''Rise of the Mythix: Legends Unite'' (2021) * ''Weirdo #18: Weird History!'' (2022) * ''Rise of the Mythix: The Last Gladiator'' (2022)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Do, Anh 1977 births Living people Male actors from Sydney Vietnamese emigrants to Australia Australian male film actors Australian male comedians Australian stand-up comedians Australian male television actors Australian television presenters People educated at St Aloysius' College (Sydney) University of Technology Sydney Law School alumni Vietnamese refugees Australian autobiographers Australian jurists Australian painters 21st-century Australian male actors