Profile

Name: Lee Soon-jae (이순재) Birthdate: November 16th, 1934 Birthplace: Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province, North Korea Height: 165 cm Weight: 68 kg Zodiac: Libra Education: Seoul National University- Bachelor of Psychology Wife: Choi Hee-jung Kids: 2 sons

Early Life and Family

Lee Soon-jae was born on November 16th, 1935, in the city Hoeryong of North Hamgyong Province, which is now a part of North Korea. In 1939, when he was four years old, he and his family moved to Seoul where his grandparents were living. In Seoul, he became the grandson of a real estate owner and the son of a soap producer and seller. Lee was brought up in the neighborhood of Ahyeon-dong and was a smart kid ever since he was small. He graduated from Seoul High School and went on to one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea, Seoul National University. In university, he took psychology as his major and gained his bachelor’s degree. At first, Lee Soon-jae wasn’t interested in becoming an actor, but after seeing Laurence Olivier in Shakespeare’s plays, he started to think of acting as a possible career path for himself. Lee Soon-jae received no professional training in acting whatsoever. Rather, he self-studied the art of acting by watching various characters on TV and practiced Korean vocabulary and pronunciation from a Korean dictionary. Before his career in acting, Lee Soon-jae worked for a broadcasting company for a year. He was able to meet directors and uncover his passion for acting from this experience. Other than acting, Lee Soon-jae has many other occupations. He gained a taste of politics by becoming a member of the 14th National Assembly. He served on the Assembly from 1992-1996. Although he eventually quit from the political scene, he still practices his advocacy by being an active part of the Korea Broadcasting Actors Union. He is also a chair professor at Gachon University. In between his busy schedule, he takes the time to teach acting to students. Outside his life in front of the camera, his family is also managing well. He is married to Choi Hee-jung and has two sons to raise.

Drama Career

Lee Soon-jae started his acting career in 1962. He was working for a broadcasting company when he realized that getting money from a regular salary was not going to cut it for the life he wanted. He then asked actor-director Lee Hae-rang to give him a role in a drama series, which then started his professional acting career. Lee Soon-jae started his acting career by starring in the 1962 KBS drama 나도 인간이 되련다. As an actor, he was notably seen climbing his way up through hard work. In his older works, he was seen mostly in supporting roles. Although most active throughout the 1960’s-1970’s, Lee Soon-jae was most famous for his roles in dramas starting from the 1990’s. Dramas such as What Is Love (1991) and Hur Jun (1999) were some of the dramas that he was most famous for. In the 2000’s, he was known for starring in the drama High Kick (2007), a popular sitcom revolving around the life of the Lee family. In the drama, Lee Soon-jae acted as Lee Soon-jae, the head of the Lee family. As a veteran actor, Lee Soon-jae gained another level of fame throughout this drama. He even gained a new nickname, “Yadong (Porn) Soon-jae”, which he gained due to one of the scenes in the drama. Recently, in 2015, he starred in the famous drama The Scholar Who Walks the Night. His latest drama was tvN’s Live (2018).

List of Dramas

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