Lee Hye-young (; born December 22, 1971) is a South Korean actress, singer and businesswoman. As a singer in the 1990s, Lee released two dance music albums each with 1730 and Coco, and one album as a solo artist. When she switched to acting, Lee starred in television series such as ''Premonition'' (1997), ''

Dal-ja's Spring ''Dal-ja's Spring'' () is a 2007 South Korean romantic comedy television series starring Chae Rim, Lee Min-ki, Lee Hyun-woo, Lee Hye-young and Gong Hyung-jin. It aired on KBS2 from January 3 to March 15, 2007, on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:5 ...

'' (2007) and '' Queen of Housewives'' (2009), and also founded the fashion brand Miss Dorothy.

Career

Lee Hye-young made her entertainment debut as a singer performing

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

. In 1992, she became part of the three-member

K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

group 1730 alongside Kim Joo-hoon and Hwang Ho-young; 1730 released two albums then disbanded. Lee and Yoon Hyun-sook (from another defunct group ZAM) then formed the duo Coco in 1994, which also released two albums. Following two

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

contributions, she released her first album as a solo artist, ''Her First Sense'' in 2000, and a Christmas

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in 2008. Lee began acting in 1995, and went on to star in

television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

s such as '' First Love'' (1996), ''Premonition'' (1997), ''Can't Help Being Born Well'' (2001), ''

'' (2007) and '' Kimchi Cheese Smile'' (2008), as well as the films ''If'' (2000) and ''

How the Lack of Love Affects Two Men ''How the Lack of Love Affects Two Men'' () is a 2006 South Korean film. Plot Dong Chol-dong is a widower who lives with his only son, Dong-hyun. Chol-dong makes his living by blackmailing companies for their immoral activities, and in his spar ...

'' (2006). Lee notably drew praise in the role of a high school geek-turned-glamorous leader of an elite clique of corporate spouses in ratings hit '' Queen of Housewives'', for which she won an Excellence Award at the

2009 MBC Drama Awards The 2009 MBC Drama Awards () is a ceremony honoring the outstanding achievement in television on the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) network for the year of 2009. It was held on December 30, 2009 and hosted by actor Lee Hwi-jae and actres ...

. Lee soon built a reputation for being one of trendiest and most fashionable Korean celebrities (pre-stardom, she previously worked as a stylist for the band

Chakra A chakra (; ; ) is one of the various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, part of the inner traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The concept of the chakra arose in Hinduism. B ...

). She parlayed this to another successful career when she launched the clothing and accessories brand Miss Dorothy in 2004. Sold through the CJ

home shopping Home shopping is the electronic retailing and home shopping channels industry, which includes such billion dollar television-based and e-commerce companies as Shop LC, HSN, Gemporia, TJC, QVC, eBay, ShopHQ, Rakuten.com and Amazon.com, ...

TV channel and

online shopping Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of th ...

mall MD Story-net, Miss Dorothy recorded high sales of in its first year and by its third year in operation, making it the best-selling fashion brand owned by a Korean celebrity for eight consecutive years. More than just a model and endorser for Miss Dorothy, as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Lee oversaw the brand's product design and development, marketing and promotion; she also became a director for lingerie company M Corset when it merged with Miss Dorothy in 2007. Once she entered her forties, Lee felt that her age would be incompatible with Miss Dorothy's target demographic of women in their twenties and thirties, so she left the company and sold her shares in 2012, then donated all the proceeds to charity. Lee also wrote the books ''The Beauty Bible'' and ''The Fashion Bible'' in 2009, and hosted fashion-focused talk shows on cable, such as ''Style Magazine'' (2008–2009) and ''Women&'' (2012). In 2017, Lee announced the official opening of her art gallery in New York with a total of 21 paintings on display.

Personal life

Lee dated

Roo'ra Roo'ra () was a co-ed hip hop and dance-pop vocal group from South Korea who was one of the country's most popular musical acts of the 1990s. The group debuted in 1994 with the hit album ''Roots of Reggae''. Their second album, ''The Angel Who L ...

singer and music producer Lee Sang-min for eight years before the couple married in 2004. They divorced in 2005, after one year and two months. She remarried on July 19, 2011 in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

to a banker/

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

expert.

Philanthropy

On March 6, 2022, Lee donated 10 million won to the Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association to help the victims of the massive wildfire that started in Uljin, Gyeongbuk and has spread to Samcheok, Gangwon. On February 9, 2023, Lee donated 10 million won to help

2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

through Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association. On May 16, Lee was named a member of the Hope Bridge Honors Club, a club of high-dollar donors.

Filmography

Television series

Film

Television show

Discography

Book

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * * * (A few of her movie credits (''Ggorichineun namja'', ''If'', ''Bet on My Disco'') have been wrongly attributed to a different Lee Hye-young) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Hye-young 1971 births Living people Actresses from Incheon South Korean television actresses South Korean film actresses Musicians from Incheon