Cai Luong artist Le Tham has passed away.

Artist Lệ Thẩm, whose real name was Nguyễn Thị Thẩm, was born in 1937 in Bạc Liêu. Gifted with stage talent, she sang in several cải lương (Vietnamese traditional opera) troupes from a young age. By the age of 17, she was already a leading actress in major troupes and adopted the stage name Lệ Thẩm.

With her beautiful figure and sweet voice, Le Tham She has played leading roles in many plays, such as the role of the Queen in Japanese soldier, the mute mother in Silent HeartWater in The Song of a Kindred SpiritTransparent plate Tấm Cám, Peach Blossom Peach Blossom of Cat Mountain, Kieu Nguyet Nga in The Story of Kieu, Mong Cam in The love story of the poet who sold the moon....

In addition, Le Tham has also participated in several roles in television dramas such as Buffalo Herding Season, Love Slope, Whirlpool of Love, Royal Candles…

Due to difficult family circumstances, when the Ho Chi Minh City Artists' Retirement Home was established in 1997, Le Tham was one of the first artists to reside there. She has lived there for decades, witnessing many changes as well as the final years of many of her fellow artists.

In early 2023, due to the deterioration of the Artists' Retirement Home, the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association, in coordination with several departments and agencies, proposed relocating the artists to a new residence at the Thi Nghe Retirement Center (Ho Chi Minh City) for easier care of the elderly artists.

Initially, the artists at the nursing home were scheduled to move to their new residence before the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Dragon. However, because the artists wished to celebrate the New Year in their old home once more (a place they had been attached to for so many years), the move was postponed until after the Lunar New Year.

However, artist Le Tham, one of the artists from the old nursing home, was no longer able to move to the new one. On January 15th, while strolling in the nursing home, artist Le Tham fainted. After being rushed to Hospital 115, Le Tham regained consciousness but was in poor health. Knowing her health condition, she requested to be taken to a relative's home in Long An because only there could she receive proper care.

According to her family, artist Le Tham passed away at 9:15 AM on January 17th, at the age of 87.

The family held a funeral for her in Long An. The cremation ceremony for artist Le Tham was held at Da Phuoc Cemetery (Binh Chanh, Ho Chi Minh City).