Lee Nan-young (; June 6, 1916 – April 11, 1965) was a Korean singer and actress most famous for the 1935 hit trot song "", which sold 50,000 copies.

Biography

Lee was born in

Japanese Korea Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offici ...

, in the port city of

Mokpo Mokpo (; ''Mokpo-si'') is a city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea, located at the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula, close to Yudal mountain. Mokpo has frequent high-speed train services to Seoul, and is the terminus for a number of fe ...

, South Jeolla Province. Her name at birth was Lee Ok-soon (이옥순), but it was later changed to Lee Ok-rye (이옥례). Her father's name was Lee Nam-soon (이남순) and she had a brother, , who was a composer. She had a difficult childhood and did not graduate from school. She became an actress in 1930, and debuted as a singer under OK Records in 1932, with the stage name Lee Nan-young. She was also a member of Jeogori Sisters, considered to be Korea's first

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

. She was the original singer of "Tears of Mokpo," one of the hit songs in the history of Korean popular songs.

Personal life

She married , a singer, composer and a conductor, in 1937. The couple had seven children, including Sook-ja Kim and Ai-ja Kim of The Kim Sisters. During the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, the family lost their home in the bombing, and Kim Hae-song was captured and killed by the North Korean army. To earn money, Lee and her children sang for the American troops. She later performed in

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

nightclubs with her oldest daughters, Young-ja and Sook-ja. She died in 1965 in Seoul, and is buried in Lee Nan-young Park in Samhakdo,

In popular culture

* Portrayed by

Cha Ji-yeon Cha Ji-yeon is a South Korean actress and singer. She is known for her roles in dramas such as '' Scent of a Woman'', ''Taxi Driver'' and '' Remarriage & Desires''. She also appeared in movies ''The Treacherous'', '' Love, Lies'', ''Horror Stori ...

in the 2016 film '' Love, Lies''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Nan-young 1916 births 1965 deaths People from Mokpo Trot singers Korean women singers South Korean stage actresses 20th-century South Korean actresses 20th-century South Korean women singers