To win an oscar from your first ever acting performance. To be a medical doctor. To survive one of the most brutal civil wars in the history of the world. To die an early and tragic death. Shakespearean all the way. Truth is stranger than fiction.

To win an Oscar as a non-professional Asian actor is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. He should have got a standing ovation.

I met him at the airport and he gave me his autograph I STILL have it!!! He was SO kind to me!!!

RIP Haing S. Ngor (March 22, 1940 - February 25, 1996), aged 55 You will be remembered as a legend.

Haing S. Ngor, you've earned that award. No formal training, prior acting skills and to win this award for his first film is simply incredible. I cried watching the Killing Fields. I shed a tear when learned about his passing. May you Rest in Peace.

Now. almost 30 years later I consider it a privilege having been part of of this film as an extra for all these months of production in Thailand. Back then, none of the cast had a name,no one knew Malkovic , Waterston or Ngor, we were like a big family, eating, drinking and joking together.Blessed memories.

Still the greatest performence ive ever seen. Nobody has ever deserved an Oscar more than this guy did.

It's for the few moments like this that the Academy Awards are justified in existing. For the most part it's a cynical exercise in self-promotion. But once in a while, they provide a venue for someone who achieves something truly great to be recognized around the world. Ngor was a great man who gave a fantastic and heartfelt performance. No one has ever deserved the prize more.

The fact that he was able to play a role that brought back memories of horrible tragedies and atrocities is worth the Oscar in itself.

Before Ken Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actor, there was Haing S. Ngor, who was murdered years ago. 🥺🥺🥺

Can you believe 2 Asians being nominated in the same year in 1985?

He survived the killing fields of Cambodia but couldn't survive the killing streets of East LA. Dr. Haing S. Ngor was a true profile in courage and one of the most deserving Oscar winners ever.

We are so proud of you Dr. Ngor. You will always be staying in our hearts. From Cambodia!

Linda Hunt is such an eloquent speaker. Clear diction and soothing voice.

I can watch this clip over and over and still feel like tearing up❤️ RIP Mr. Ngor

Survived Cambodia but murdered in land of the free. What an irony.

This is my first time seeing him win the Oscar. I remember watching this in our elementary classroom & it moved me because my mom & dad & aunts & uncles & grandma & grandpa are all survivors of the Killing Fields. Well deserved actor. RIP Haing S Ngor!

I'm so proud of him, his speech was so great and I loved that he added the 'Hooray Kampuchea' at the end. Makes a Cambodian proud. May you Rest in peace.

It’s really sad that John Malkovich is the only surviving nominee from that year. Ralph Richardson… Adolph Caesar… Pat Morita… Haing S. Ngor… May they all Rest In Peace.

RIP Haing S. Ngor (1940 - 1996) It was very bad that he was murdered by robbery gang.

I always think of that scene with him and Waterson where that Lennon song "Imagine" is playing. Damn... it was amazing.

As I am Cambodian’s people I am so proud to this award ♥️♥️

I watched this movie yesterday. And i think Ngor truly deserved the award.

Linda Hunt has a beautiful voice!

His story has been my inspiration ever since I read "A Cambodian Odyssey", the autobiography of his life. Not to denigrate Dith Pran's experience, but if the audience members knew what Dr. Ngor had been through to get to that point, they would have given him a 10-minute standing ovation. Absolutely miraculous. He was an incredible soul.

Happy Birthday Haing S. Ngor , I hope Wherever you're in this world you're Happy.

An incredible man. Truly it was a miracle that he even survived long enough to even reach the thai border, let alone star in this movie. RIP 🙏

Such a moving performance. He deserved the Oscar. God bless his soul.

That movie is hauntingly magnificent and insane !! I'm so glad I watched that movie ! He actually has a leading role ! He deserves the award even best actor !

I normally am somewhat apathetic towards the oscars but this was definitely a compelling speech to me.

Haing S. Ngor did a brilliant job bringing his character to life

When the Oscars were worthy of an evening to sit down and watch.

More people should watch this and pay respect to Haing Ngor, especially after Ke Huy Quan won in the same category. Haing Ngor was the trailblazer and set the precedent for all Asian actors today

WHOA WHAT I had no idea Pat Morita was nominated for Karate Kid!

We have received many requests for the clip of Linda Hunt's Oscar® win, and plan to include it in an upcoming selection of videos.

I just finished reading his book, what a truly amazing, tough and resilient human being he was. The circumstances surrounding his death are disgusting after all he had endured. I hope now at least he can finally have some peace and be reunited with Huoy.

Haing S. Ngor has great acting in The Killing Fields. Haing S. Ngor and Harold Russell are the only two non-professional actors to win an Academy Award in an acting category. Haing S. Ngor is the only actor of Asian descent to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He survived three terms in Cambodian prison camps, using his medical knowledge to keep himself alive by eating beetles, termites, and scorpions; he eventually crawled between Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese lines to safety in a Red Cross refugee camp.

I watched The Killing Fields last night. I was sad to learn that Haing was murdered in real life. I agree that his role in this film was leading rather than supporting, but at least he won! And what an amazing lineup in that category that year!

Read his book- Survival in the killing fields. He was an unbroken.

The Killing Fields. I really recommend this film, it`s very intens, and wonderful played by Waterston and Ngor......Ngor was killed in a botched robbery in LA in 1996. His robbers demanded a locket of his wife he used to wear around his neck and had sworn never to remove. He refused. They shot him fatally. Many are convinced it was a KR hit

He deserves a standing ovation.

I wish I'd accomplished one of the great things this man did. A true giant.

A beautiful man inside and out.❤

Dr. Ngor, rest in peace, sir. Thank you for all the beautiful things in your work you left through the years.

This is incredible. Such an achievement and so deserving. A first time actor at the age of 44... wow! One of the only times the Academy ever did justice...

The more i learn about him the more I'm impressed. Legend all around. Rest easy and thanks for your work ❤

One heck of an incredible speech!

Wish there were Cambodian actors like him

He is cambodian 🇰🇭 we so proud of love

An amazing poet . By far, one of the best supporting actor performances of all time. RIP and may you walk with the same grace in heaven.

So deserving he seemed so kind and humble in his speech.

We're proud of you Dr.RIP.

5 of the best profromances i ever saw

Acting for the first time and he was won it Cambodian is cool

I wish I can watch the movie again.. Really touched my heart until now. The actors are great!! Congratulation Haing Ngor!!!

that voice of linda hunt is a pleasure to hear

Yes. And if you look at his performance alone you'll find he totally understands the material and character. He was delightfully understated and generated real sympathy for the protagonist. Which is everything you could want from a supporting actor.

if anyone ever deserved an oscar it was this guy may he rest in peace

Most deserving Oscar ever!

If Pat Morita had won, it would remain the most shiny Oscar ever.....Wax on, wax off.

Iv never seen this movie, it was released two years before i was born. I'm gonna watch it tomorrow. Very interested to see this man's performance, amazing how much hype it received for a first time actor

I just finished reading "Cambodian Odyssey" which were Haing Ngor's memoirs,written in 1987.He suffered much more horribly than Dith Pran's character did in the movie.His entire immediate family was killed by the Khmer Rouge.The death of his wife was one of the most heartbreaking things I ever had to read.The story I heard was that he was murdered because he refused to hand over a gold locket with his late wife's picture in it.He certainly mentions the locket repeatedly in his book.God bless him.

With all respect I wish you a better life in the next life..my heart goes out to you

he really earn this award! he has been true so horrible things and nothing will make it better but it´s good that he could tell his story! and it´s so horrible that he died in this tragical way he should had have a long and happy life after all this horrible things...

Magnificent performance, unforgettable film. Adolph Caesar's moving performance in "A Soldier's Story" though was pretty damn good.

I totally adore Linda Hunt. She brings class and dignity to everything she touches.

What an incredible story.

The Oscars often gets it wrong, but it's great when they get it this right

I watched the Killing Fields the other day and it has to be one of the best films I have ever seen, Haing S. Ngor was an amazing actor and played the role so perfectly, it's so sad and makes me want to cry knowing that he's passed, RIP.

Haing S. Ngor was featured in a Hollywood Reporter article last year about where deceased Oscar winners' statues are now.

I just read 'A Cambodian Odyssey' and I want to thank you Haing S Ngor because it has made me a better person by you sharing your story and your humanity.

Haing and Jon Malkovitch were friends since the movie. Haing told him to swear in Cambodian. Jon said, showing the prize, "Kiss my ass, it's mine" in Khmer during the ceremony :p Survival in the Kiling fields is an overwhelming book.. difficult to hold the tears during some scenes (tortures, Huoy's death). Truly amazing survivor and great human being.... RIP Haing

Haing Ngor was an amazing human being. I really admire his passion, dedication to others and his great courage. I furthermore appreciate Ngor for being honest about his short-comings in his powerful autobiography. This text shows Ngor's high intelligence and deep analyses of society and human behaviour.

One of the most important films of the 20th Century and one of the greatest performances of all time. Largely because Dr. Haing S Ngor lived an even more horrific version of surviving the killing fields of Cambodia than what the movie portrayed. The only tragedy about his win of the Oscar was that he should have won for Best Actor, not Supporting Actor.

one of my fav performances of all-time rip Dr. Ngor

Wow amazing, this is the first time ever that I recollect any oscar winner thanking God.

Such a great human, soul, spirit and an actor. I respect this beautiful man so deeply. You are forever missed in the hearts of an audience who watched your breathtaking performance in the motion picture KILLING FIELD.

I love the film "The Killing Fields" and Haing Ngor's performance!

quite simply the greatest screen performance in this category ever. Haing S Ngor was incredible in this film, the scene where he meets up with sam waterson and john lennons imagine plays in the background, if that dosent bring tears you don't have a heart .

On a purely technical level, his performance works so well because, unlike most amateur actors, he instinctively understands what to do with his body language. Most amateurs either don't know what to do, or they're trying something but it's not getting the tone they're thinking of. On a much more human level, this performance is exceptional because it's a man who lived all that shit and survived, and being brave enough to plumb those memories all over again for the sake of telling that story to the larger world. Ngor somehow managed to survive three trips to a Khmer Rouge prison camp, and was one of the very few to go to Tuol Sleng and live. Like John Malkovich said about him (paraphrasing here), you'd have to be a pretty great actor to hide your intelligence and education for that long (the chapters of his autobiography that describe the prison camps are the most gruesome and sobering thing I've ever read, real-life torture porn systematically perpetuated by actual human beings).

The absolute joy that both Dr. Ngor and Sam Waterston showed in that hug is infectious

If they did not give it to him it would have been an insult. You can’t tell someone they didn’t act their own life correctly. It was a lot of courage to re-enact this part of his life, in which most would rather forget. That goes beyond an acting role. It’s reliving it. That’s why he won it.

I've been watching old Oscar speeches & actors/actreeses for the movies they've won. It saddens me greatly that movies like those aren't being made like that anymore. We barely have actors of that caliber anymore. We need to get back to a time when craft mattered, writing mattered, ART mattered. Plus it's tragic that this man died the way he did. He survived one of the most brutal times in history only to end so tragically. 💔

the "cheyo kampuchea !" at the end is everything

Respect to Dr Ngor.

Dr. Haing S. Gnor and Harold Russell ('Best Years of Our Lives' won Russell Best Supporting Actor) are the only 2 non-actors* to win Academy Awards *By acting, I mean anything to do with Hollywood.

Ngor was a great guy.RIP

On his way to the stage, John Malkovich shouted something in Cambodian to him, which shocked Dr. Ngor's niece and made Dr. Ngor himself laugh. It was: "The award's mine, asshole!"

RIP Dr Haing S Ngor. You so deserved this! I like to think Dith Pran was just like you.❤️

I had just watched the movie for at least the 5th time and it's still so powerful. More than deserved.

I love Dr. Ngor. He is my hero and his legacy will never be forgotten. "The Killing Fields" is a brilliant film, and he represents heroism in its truest form. God bless you sir.

This beautiful man should still be with us. He was also wonderful in Heaven & Earth (a mid-90's Scorcese film) as the main character's father. His performances make me cry in both movies.

He was awsome in that film and a. Great movie it was ,

Honestly, Haing did not deserve what ultimately happened to him in the end. The good PH.d had the world captivated when he died, but this award for him was his ultimate prize, and he did deserve it.

I’m so proud of you Ngor !!! We are CAMBODIAN in the whole life.

Pat Morita was so good in The Karate Kid , if not Haing S. Ngor Performance in the Killing Fields then Pat Morita should have won that year.

we're proud of you! R.I.P

At the very end he shouts "ជយោ! កម្ពុជា" which means "Long Live Cambodia!"

I am a scottish man aged 30, this man is 1 of my Top hero's ....I think this guy's spirit is amazing..all the best in the after life m8

"Supporting Actor"?! He was the whole fucking movie.