Photo: Lee Sun-jae at the 2024 KBS Drama Awards. Credit: KBS.
On November 25, actor Lee Sun-jae 이순재 passed away in Seoul. Earlier this year on January 11, Lee appeared in the 2024 KBS Drama Awards KBS 연기대상 to win two awards for his leading role in Dog Knows Everything 개소리, becoming the oldest winner of a major television award in South Korean history.
Born in 1934 in present-day North Korea, Lee relocated to Seoul in 1938 and saw Korea’s liberation as an 11-year-old. While attending the Seoul National University 국립서울대학교, Lee debuted as an actor for a play in 1956 and made his television debut in 1965. Appearing in more than 140 different television dramas, Lee found the greatest popularity while playing a self-deprecating patriarch. His role as a loving but old school father in the 1991 drama What is Love 사랑이 뭐길래 was one of the major drivers for the show to reach 65% viewership, one of the highest in Korean drama history.
Buoyed by his popularity in What is Love, Lee also served as a conservative lawmaker by winning the 1992 General Election 총선거 with the Democratic Liberal Party 민주자유당. Lee stepped down after one term, returning to acting and finding more success. In addition to his roles in television, Lee led a critically acclaimed theater production of King Lear in 2021.
