Anh Do has become well known around the country for both his comedy and artistic capabilities. During his much-acclaimed Anh’s Brush With Fame series, the 44-year-old listens to the stories of some of the country’s biggest names as he captures their portrait on canvas.
Personal histories play a huge part in the paintings’ final product. And it’s not hard to see why Anh is so moved by the anecdotes of his subjects, considering his own upbringing heavily shaped who he is as a person.
WATCH: Sophie Delezio shares her amazing outlook on life during an appearance on Anh Do
While fleeing Vietnam when he was just two years old on a leaky fishing boat, Anh and his fellow refugees were attacked by two different groups of pirates before eventually being rescued by a German merchant ship.
Beginning his new life in Australia, Anh was determined to help lift his family from poverty. He worked hard and earned a place at the University of Technology Sydney to study Business Law. It was here that he met his future wife, Suzanne (Suzie).
Anh was instantly smitten with the fellow law student, writing in his award-winning novel, The Happiest Refugee, that Suzie’s “smile lit up the room”.
“She seemed to emanate a warmth which captivated,” the comedian penned.
The pair grew close and quickly became best friends, but when Anh finally plucked up the courage to ask Suzie out on a date, he was shattered to find that his feelings weren’t reciprocated.
Nevertheless, Anh and Suzie remained close as they both dated different people throughout their time at university, but Anh confessed that his “heart belonged to law girl”.
When Anh discovered Suzie broke up with her boyfriend, the pair went to see a film and the Brush With Fame star decided to share his feelings with the law student once more. This time, the feelings were reciprocated, and the pair started dating.
It took all of three months for Anh to realise that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Suzie, and couple got engaged at 22, marking the milestone with a big Vietnamese style engagement party at Suzie’s home.
Anh has confessed he loves to subject Suzie to Vietnamese culture, and even recounted her reaction to her first traditional dinner with his family.
“My family is a big Vietnamese family, we have gatherings every few weeks, and these gatherings turned into reliving the past and reminiscing,” he told The Catholic Weekly in 2010.
“The first time my wife came over for dinner, she’s Aussie and she’s listening to this Vietnamese family talk about pirates and death and starvation, and joking about it. My wife was shocked, but that’s exactly how my family deals with it.
“We’re a bunch of larrikins and if you put us through hell we’re going to make some fun out of it,” the Happiest Refugee author said.
Anh and Suzie eventually tied the knot in the chapel of Anh’s old high school, St. Aloysius. These days, the couple keep their home life private as they proudly parent their four children – Xavier, Luc, Leon, and Summer.
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