Lee Soon-jae

Lee Soon-jae (born November 16, 1934) is a South Korean actor.

He has had a prolific career on the small and big screen spanning over six decades, and was given a second-class Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit for his work as an actor.

Lee interest in acting begin around the 1950s, when films from various countries came into Korea, and Lee Soon-jae began to have a longing for 'art' while watching these works.

He mainly watched Italian, French, and British works.

He was especially impressed by Italian films that pursued neo-realism.

Also, while watching American works that coexist commercial and artistic aspects, he thought that it would be nice if he could act like that.

When he went to England, he saw Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', 'Richard III', and 'Romeo and Juliet'.

He really liked Laurence Olivier.

He really was a regal artist.

Lee decide to do acting in the winter of his second year at university.

Lee wanted to go on stage in a play, so he went to work every day at 'East Salon' coffee shop on Myeongdong street where Lee Hae-rang worked.

Lee Hae-rang's father, a doctor in Busan, made it for his son to live on because his son couldn't make money in theater.

It was a gathering place for artists and writers.

Poets like Park In-hwan and Kim Soo-young were regulars.

After being discharged from the military, Lee worked as a salaried worker as the head of the broadcasting office, but only the thought that this was not his path was getting stronger.

He went to the drama center and asked Lee Hae-rang for one role.

Coincidentally, the role of Mercutio in 'Romeo and Juliet' was vacant.

He said, "From now on, I'm prepared to starve" and decided to act.

When his father came to stop his son from his hardships, he said, "It must be this or that."

“I didn’t have the talent to do anything else.

In the end, my father surrendered, saying, “Wouldn’t it be a world where you can earn money if you become first-class no matter what you do?”

In the 1950s and 1960s he was known, along with other veteran actors like Yeo Woon-kay, as the original stars of daehakgeuk or amateur student theatrical productions.

"The stage has simultaneity of action. Filming a movie or drama is no different from the pre-filming process, and the video is cut and edited. However, on stage, the director cannot intervene whether the actors are good or bad, and they have no choice but to rely entirely on the actors. Lawrence Olivier said, 'Film is the director's art, drama is the writer's art, and theater is the actor's art.' Of course, it's not that actors do whatever they want on stage. It follows as suggested by the writer and director, but in the midst of it, there is an independent window for the actor. In a play, the role of an actor is the most important. In that sense, from the actor's point of view, the 'act' of this play is worth doing. Also, there is nothing more rewarding than when we interpret and analyze the works of great masters, deliver their literature and philosophy to the audience, and get a response.

So theater is something actors must do.

Lee Soon-jae made his debut in 1956 with play 'Beyond the Horizon' when he was a senior at the Department of Philosophy at Seoul National University.

He was most active in film in the late 1960s through the 1970s, most notably in Yu Hyun-mok's Bun-rye's Story.

Lee made his debut on the TV screen in 1961 with the first drama of KBS's opening Should I become a human too.

Lee was born in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province, now part of North Korea.

When he was four years old, his family moved to Seoul where Lee's grandparents were living.

Lee's grandfather ran a small real estate business, while his father produced and sold soaps.

Lee was raised in the neighborhood of Ahyeon-dong, and graduated from Seoul High School and the prestigious Seoul National University.

He also holds an insurance planning license as celebrities without the license cannot become endorsers or spokespeople of related products.

Lee Soon-jae about Theater."Lee has since built a prolific career on the small and big screen spanning nearly six decades. Lee made his debut on the TV screen in 1961 with the first drama of KBS's opening, 'Should I become a human too'. From the opening of TBC in 1964 to the media consolidation in 1980, he swept the home theater as an exclusive talent for 16 years. The reason Lee did TV dramas was to make a living. "Until 1968, I did more than 12 years of acting, but I never received a penny.

The first time I got paid was 'Death of a Salesman', which was a big hit in 1978."

As he grew older, Lee shifted to a primarily TV career in the 1990s, receiving acclaim for his roles in the television dramas Live As I Please (written by Yoo Ho), Pungwoon (Crisis), What is Love (written by Kim Soo-hyun) and Hur Jun.

From 1992 to 1996, Lee served as a member of the 14th National Assembly of South Korea.

He quit politics after one term after finding the political climate "too barren" for his taste.

Lee remains active in his various advocacies, such as the Korea Broadcasting Actors Union.

He is also a professor of Film Arts at Sejong University, a professor emeritus of Performing Arts at Gachon University, and the director of the SG Academy.

After starring in Hur Jun, he was given an honorary doctorate in Oriental Medicine by Kyung Hee University.