Lee Soon-jae

Lee Soon Jae • Soon-jae Lee • 이순재 • Lee Sun-jae • Lee Sung-jae • 李顺才

Lee Soon-jae (Korean: 이순재; November 16, 1934 – November 25, 2025) was a South Korean actor. He 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 made his debut on television in 1961 with KBS's first drama Should I become a human too. Early life and education Lee was born in Hoe...

Lee Soon-jae (Korean: 이순재; November 16, 1934 – November 25, 2025) was a South Korean actor. He 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 made his debut on television in 1961 with KBS's first drama Should I become a human too. Early life and education Lee was born in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province, now part of North Korea, on November 16, 1934. 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 neighbourhood of Ahyeon-dong, and graduated from Seoul High School and Seoul National University. Lee's interest in acting started around the 1950s, when films from various countries came into Korea. He mainly watched Italian, French, and British works; he was especially impressed by Italian films that pursued neo-realism and wished he could act like actors appearing in American works where commercial and artistic aspects coexisted. He was lated impressed by Shakespeare's Hamlet, Richard III, and Romeo and Juliet when he visited England. Lee decided to do acting while in his second year at university. Wanting to go on stage in a play, he went to work every day at the East Salon coffee shop on Myeongdong street, a gathering place for artists and writers led by Lee Hae-rang. After being discharged from the military, Lee worked as a salaried worker as the head of the broadcasting office, but was convinced that this was not his path. He then asked Lee Hae-rang for one role, and was cast as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. His father questioned his decision, thinking it would be too hard and unrewarding, but eventually gave in. Career Lee Soon-jae made his debut in 1956 with the play Beyond the Horizon when he was a senior at the Department of Philosophy at Seoul National University. 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. Talking about theater, Lee said: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. Laurence 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 built a prolific career on the small and big screen spanning nearly six decades. He made his debut on the TV screen in 1961 with KBS's first drama Should I become a human too. He was most active in film in the late 1960s through the 1970s, most notably in Yu Hyun-mok's Bun-rye's Story. 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. He appeared in television series to make a living, but revealed that he was never paid until Death of a Salesman in 1978. In 2007, Lee, by then a distinguished veteran actor, reached new heights of mainstream popularity when he starred in the sitcom Unstoppable High Kick!. One particular scene became a huge hit among young audiences: when his stern grandfather character discovers porn while browsing through a family member's computer files, then embarrassingly gets caught watching. It went viral, giving rise to numerous parodies in which "Yadong (Porn) Soon-jae" is involved in R-rated hijinks. Lee was surprised that even his granddaughter asked for his autograph for her friends, adding, "Even during my best years, my daughter never asked me for that." Despite having no superstars in the cast, the sitcom received high ratings, which Lee attributed to successfully building comic tension. He said, "For an actor to be funny, he's got to play things straight. [...] It's about finding the comedy in something serious." But Lee also lamented the recent trend of casting inexperienced actors in leading roles on TV, saying, "It's important to know the basics, like the language. How can you act, when you don't even know how to pronounce? Acting is not a simple thing, and this I can say from experience." He later returned as the family patriarch in High Kick Through the Roof, which shares the same concept as the previous sitcom, but with a different cast and characters.In 2009, Lee made his big screen comeback after 20 years in television, in Jang Jin's comedy Good Morning President. The movie tells the story of three fictional Korean presidents, and in the first segment, Lee played a well-respected elderly president nearing the end of his term who espouses frugality and charity, but then agonizes whether to take the money when he unexpectedly wins the lottery. Lee said, "I was impressed with how much times have changed; before it would have been impossible to parody the president. The film tries to show that heads of state are only human, just like you and me, which I think makes the movie distinctive, as well as fresh and fun for viewers." In 2011, Lee, Yoon So-jung, Song Jae-ho and Kim Soo-mi starred in Late Blossom, a tearjerker romance about two elderly couples, based on the popular webtoon I Love You by Kang Full. Lee said the movie was a rare chance for him and other senior actors to play leading roles on the big screen. He added that Korea's senior citizen population had surpassed five million, and "not understanding their feelings would be a failure of television dramas, movies and even elections. Young people might be under the illusion that life is over after turning 60, but the heart doesn't change despite getting old." Initially difficult to finance due to ageism, Late Blossom had a small shooting and marketing budget compared to most Korean mainstream films. But it became a sleeper hit, recouping four times its cost in just a few weeks. Lee also won Best Actor under the international film category at the China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, becoming its oldest recipient. Lee said, "I never thought I'd win. What a surprise. It feels great to know that Late Blossom has been received well overseas. I thought it would be hard for an actor from television dramas to be awarded a prize at film awards, not to mention the unexpected pleasure of winning at a foreign film festival. I have received the best entertainer award and achievement award before, but receiving this makes me happier and more thrilled." It was his first best actor award for a film in 34 years since the 1977 Baeksang Arts Awards. Lee returned to the stage in 2012 in Father, a Korean adaptation of Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman. This was his third time to play the character Willy Loman. Lee said, "When I first played this role in 1978, some parts were rather incomprehensible. But now, as our society developed, we can finally fully understand what those lines mean. That is the beauty of working on masterpieces like Arthur Miller's. I feel a satisfaction and regret at the same time, for I have reached a new comprehension, and for the perspective that I have yet to discover." He reprised the role in 2013, under the direction of Kim Myung-gon. In 2013, cable channel TVN launched the travel-reality show Grandpas Over Flowers. Defying a youth-centered entertainment industry, the hit show stars four veteran actors in their 70s, Shin Goo, Park Geun-hyung and Baek Il-seob, with their porter Lee Seo-jin as they go on a backpacking tour of France, Taiwan and Spain. The show ended in 2018 after five seasons. In the meantime, Lee joined Idol School as principal and narrator. In 2018, Lee was awarded a second-class Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit by the Korean government, for his work as an actor. As of 2019, he was the oldest active actor and the oldest actor. Song Hae was the only senior artist among all South Korean celebrities. He was the first to be dedicated to the Korean Broadcasting Hall of Fame and earlier to the MBC Hall of Fame. In his final years, Lee remained active in the industry. His television credits included roles in Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol (2020), Again My Life (2022), and Family: The Unbreakable Bond (2023). In 2022, he made his directorial debut with a stage production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, and in 2023, he performed the title role in a production of Shakespeare's King Lear. His final television project was the drama Dog Knows Everything (2024) for which he was awarded the Grand Prize (Daesang) at the 2024 KBS Drama Awards and became the oldest recipient (90) of the award in the history of the ceremony. In 2025, he was awarded the Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit, the highest honor in the South Korean cultural merit system posthumously, in recognition of his contributions to the arts. Other ventures 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 remained active in his various advocacies, such as the Korea Broadcasting Actors Union. He was 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. Personal life and death Lee first met his wife Choi Hee-jung as a university student as she was the sister of his fellow student theater troupe member. They married in 1966 and had two children. Lee died in Seoul on November 25, 2025, at the age of 91. His funeral ceremony was held at the Asan Medical Center in Seoul on 27 November, followed by his burial at Eden Paradise in Icheon. Filmography Television series Film Variety shows Theater Accolades Awards and nominations State honors Listicles Election results Notes References External links Lee Soon-jae at the Korean Movie Database Lee Soon-jae at IMDb Lee Soon-jae at HanCinema