Choi Eun-hee

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Template:Short description Template:Family name hatnote Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Main otherScript error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Template:Wikidata image Choi Eun-hee (Korean: Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Category handler; November 20, 1926 – April 16, 2018[1]) was a South Korean actress. She was one of South Korea's most popular stars of the 1960s and 1970s.[2] In 1978, Choi and her then ex-husband, movie director Shin Sang-ok, were abducted to North Korea, where they were forced to make films until they sought asylum at the United States embassy in Vienna in 1986.[3][4] They returned to South Korea in 1999 after spending a decade in the United States.[5]

Biography

Early career and success in South Korea

Choi was born in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, in 1926. Her first acting role was in the 1947 film A New Oath.[2] She rose to fame the following year after starring in the 1948 film The Sun of Night and soon became known as one of the "troika" of Korean film, alongside actresses Kim Ji-mee and Um Aing-ran.[6]

After she married director Shin Sang-ok in 1954, the two founded Shin Film. Choi went on to act in over 130 films and was considered one of the biggest stars of South Korean film in the 1960s and 1970s.[2][7] She starred in many of Shin's iconic films, including 1958's A Flower in Hell and 1961's The Houseguest and My Mother.[8]

After she was diagnosed with infertility, they adopted two children together, Jeong-kyun and Myung-kim.

Abduction and years in North Korea

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". In 1976, Choi divorced Shin after seeing news that he had fathered two children with young actress Oh Su-mi.[9][10] Choi's career began to suffer after her divorce, and she traveled to Hong Kong in 1978 to meet with a person posing as a businessman who offered to set up a new film company with her.[4] In Hong Kong, Choi was abducted and taken to North Korea by the order of Kim Jong Il. While searching for Choi after her abduction, Shin was also abducted and taken to North Korea soon after.[2][11]

In North Korea, Choi and Shin were remarried, at Kim's recommendation.[5] Kim had them make films together, including 1985's Salt, for which Choi won best actress at the 14th Moscow International Film Festival.[8] Choi later said that the couple was able to make "films with artistic values, instead of just propaganda films extolling the regime," but that she could not forgive Kim for kidnapping her.[5] While in North Korea, Choi converted to Catholicism.[12]

Escape and later life

The couple finally staged their escape in 1986 while on a trip to Vienna, where they fled to the United States embassy and requested political asylum.[4] According to former CIA agent Michael Lee, Choi and Shin became American citizens in 1989 (three years after their escape) and adopted the names Theresa Sheen and Simon Sheen respectively.[13] They lived in Reston, Virginia, then Beverly Hills, California, before returning to South Korea in 1999.[5][14]

On April 16, 2018, Choi died at 91 in a hospital where she was due to undergo kidney dialysis in the afternoon.[2] Her death resulted in widespread mourning across South Korea.[4]

In media

In 2015, film producer and writer Paul Fischer released an English-language biography of Choi's and Shin's lives titled A Kim Jong Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker.[15] In January 2016, at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, in the World Cinema Documentary Competition, a documentary about the North Korean ordeal, entitled The Lovers and the Despot, directed by Robert Cannan and Ross Adam, was presented.[16]

Select filmography

Year Title Role Ref
Korea, Empire of Japan
1947 A New Oath [17]
1948 The Sun of Night [17]
1949 A Hometown in Heart Widow [17]
South Korea
1958 A Flower in Hell Sonya [17]
1960 To the Last Day [17]
1961 Evergreen Tree [17]
The Houseguest and My Mother Mother [17]
1962 A Happy Day of Jinsa Maeng Ip-bun [17]
The Memorial Gate for Virtuous Women [17]
1963 Rice [17]
1964 Red Scarf Ji-seon [17]
Deaf Sam-yong [17]
1965 The Sino-Japanese War and Queen Min the Heroine [17]
1967 Phantom Queen [17]
1968 Woman [17]
North Korea
1984 Runaway Song Ryul's wife Template:Sfn
1985 Love, Love, My Love Chunhyang's mother Template:Sfn
Salt Mother Template:Sfn
The Tale of Shim Chong Shim Chong's mother Template:Sfn

Awards

Buil Film Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result Ref
1959 Best Actress A Flower in Hell Template:Won [18]
1962 The Houseguest and My Mother Template:Won [19]
1966 The Sino-Japanese War and Queen Min the Heroine Template:Won [20]

Blue Dragon Film Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result Ref
1964 Popular Star Award — Template:Won [21]
1966 Template:Won [22]

Grand Bell Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result Ref
1962 Best Actress Evergreen Tree Template:Won [23]
1965 The Sino-Japanese War and Queen Min the Heroine Template:Won
2010 Korean Film Achievement Award — Template:Won [24]

Other awards

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref
2006 Korean Film Awards Achievement Award — Template:Won [7]
2008 Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Special Achievement Award Template:Won [25]
2009 Chunsa Film Festival Chunsa Award Template:Won [26]
2014 Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards Order of Cultural Merit Template:Won [7]

Bibliography

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References

Template:Reflist

Works cited

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Further reading

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External links

Template:Grand Bell Awards for Best Actress Template:Authority control Template:North Korean abductions

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