Wild and Exotic Performances in 'Areumdawoon Aknyeo' and 'Jamaeui Hwawon'
Serving as President of the Korean Film Veterans Association... Lifetime Achievement Award at This Year's Women in Film Awards
Veteran actress Choi Ji-hee (real name Kim Kyung-ja), who rose to stardom playing the third daughter Yong-ran in the film 'Kim Yak-guk's Daughters (1963),' passed away on the 17th at Eunpyeong St. Mary's Hospital. She was 81 years old. She suffered from lupus and died of pneumonia. The funeral hall has been set up in the general room of Euljiro Paik Hospital's funeral home. Chairman Lee Hae-ryong and General Secretary Moon Cheol-jae of the Korean Senior Film Artists Association are overseeing the funeral procedures. The funeral procession will be held at 9 a.m. on the 19th, and the burial site is at Bundang Sky Castle.
She was born in 1940 in Osaka, Japan. After liberation, she stayed in Yeosu, experienced the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident, and then moved to her parents' hometown, Hadong in Gyeongnam Province. She attended Busan Girls' High School but joined a theater troupe to make a living. In Seoul, she caught the eye of producer Choi Nam-yong and appeared in director Kim Il-hae's 'Ingeol Hong Gil-dong (1958)' and director Lee Kang-cheon's 'Beautiful Villainess.' She took the stage name Choi Ji-hee, adopting the surname of the producer Choi who helped her.
In 'Beautiful Villainess,' she played Eun-mi, a pickpocket girl, gaining the image of an 'Afure Girl' (a term mocking the new characteristics of postwar women who broke away from traditional gender ideology). She also showed wild and exotic performances in films such as 'Sisters' Garden (1959),' 'The Black Child I Gave Birth To (1959),' and 'Love and Hate (1959),' rising as a rising star in Chungmuro. In 1961, through the introduction of Park Dong-seon, known for the 'Korea Gate' incident, she went to study abroad in the United States, studying English and acting in Washington and New York. The following year, she returned and starred in youth films such as 'Goodbye, Adolescence (1962)' and 'Year of the Horse Female College Student (1963),' and delivered an impressive performance in director Yoo Hyun-mok's 'Kim Yak-guk's Daughters,' winning Best Supporting Actress awards at the 1st Blue Dragon Film Awards and the 3rd Grand Bell Awards.
She distanced herself from the film industry after marrying in 1966 but divorced in 1969. The following year, she returned to the set and starred in action films. From the mid-1970s, she conducted business between Japan and the United States. In 1986, she produced a film by Johnny Yoon, and in 1988, she planned and produced the Seoul Pre-Olympic Show, showing her talents in various fields. Even in the later years of her life, she appeared in films such as 'Oppa Has Returned (2010)' and served as the president of the Korean Senior Film Artists Association, receiving the Woman Filmmaker of the Year Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2011.
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