Lee Ho-jae (; born 2 May 1941) is a South Korean

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. Lee began his career on stage in 1963, in the play ''

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job o ...

'', and has appeared in numerous works of

Korean theatre Theater in Korea or Korean theater are theater performances which were originally done in courtyards, but which have now moved to stages. Korean theater is performed in the Korean language, and is generally made up of Korean people. Rising to pr ...

, film and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

. Lee, who was the first actor to win the Lee Hae-Rang Theater Award, one of the major theater awards in Korea, has been praised as a master of speech by acting with a restrained emotion. In 2011 Lee was awarded the 2011 Bogwan Order of Cultural Merit (South Korea) by the government. In 1977, with his fellow actor

Jeon Moo-song Jeon Moo-song (born September 28, 1941) is a South Korean actor. Jeon began his career on stage in the play 'Chunhyangjeon' in 1964 and has since been active in Korean theatre, film and television. In 1977, he performed as the title character ...

, Lee performed in play ''Crown Prince Hamyeol'' (an adaptation of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'') at

La MaMa La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, which marked the first time a Korean theatre troupe had traveled outside Korea.

Career

Early career

Lee was born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

and grew up in the Jongno-dong neighborhood. He's the eldest of 6 siblings, 3 boys and 3 girls. His father had a big business in dyes and pigments. Lee didn't plan to be an actor. He was an ice hockey player at '. In the spring of 1960, He was a freshmen in Yonsei University's Department of Political Science and Diplomacy. Because of his good voice, a senior appointed Lee him to read the

April 19 Revolution The April Revolution ( ko, 4.19 혁명), also called the April 19 Revolution or April 19 Movement, were mass protests in South Korea against President Syngman Rhee and the First Republic from April 11 to 26, 1960 which led to Rhee's resigna ...

Manifesto in student protest, but that incident made Lee expelled from university. He was wandering for two years, then in autumn 1962, he decided to enter newly established Korean Theater Academy, founded by Dongnang Yoo Chi-jin (1905-1974) which was predecessor of today Department of Theater and Film of ''

Seoul Institute of the Arts Seoul Institute of the Arts is a prominent educational institution specializing in the Arts located in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The school has nurtured many graduates who are actively working in art related fields within Korea as ...

.'' Class of 62 was the first batch from the academy. Lee's fellow classmate included Shin Gu,

, Ban Hyo-jeong (who did not graduate), and playwright Yoon Dae-seong. In 1963, Lee debuted on stage at the Myeongdong National Theater in 1963 as Lenny Small in ''

'' by John Steinbeck, produced by theater company belong to his friend Kim Bul-rae (former professor at

Hongik University Hongik University (, colloquially ''Hongdae'') is a private university in Seoul, South Korea. Founded by an activist in 1946, the university is located in Mapo-gu district of central Seoul, South Korea with a second campus(branch campus) in S ...

). Kim coaxed Lee into joining the play in exchange of free drinks at his mom's bar.

Career from 1964-1999

After graduation in 1964, Lee and fellow classmate ''Jeon Moo-song'' became member of ''Dongnang Repertoire Theater Company''. In 1966 he was called to enlist for 36 months. Lee fulfilled his mandatory military enlistment by participating in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

and discharged in 1969. He's back to the theater company after working in a company for a short time. His major works with ''Dongnang Repertoire Theater Company'' were works of playwright

Oh Taeseok O Taeseok (; 11 October 1940 – 28 November 2022) was a South Korean playwright, theatre director and translator. Life O Taeseok was born on 11 October 1940, in Seocheon, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. O Taeseok was ten years old w ...

, such as his original works ''Chobun'' and ''Tae'' (lifecord) and also ''Sootduki Play'' (1974), adaptation of ''Scapin the Schemer'' by

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...

. In 1975 Lee with his fellow actor

and playwright

joined

National Theater Company of Korea The National Theater Company of Korea (NTCK, Korean:국립극단) is a South Korean theatre company founded in 1950 as an affiliate of the National Theater of Korea. In 2010, in its 60th anniversary year, NTCK separated from the National Th ...

(NTCK). His most memorable and notable work there was Henrik Ibsen's play '' Peer Gynt.'' In 1977, Lee with

and

, joined ''Dongnang Repertory Theater Company's World Tour Return Commemorative Performance''. Dongrang Repertory theater company led by CEO Yoo Deok-hyung (president of

at that time) toured the world for about three months from March 9 to May 30 19777, sponsored by

Joongang Ilbo ''The JoongAng'', formally known as ''JoongAng Ilbo'', is a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and a newspaper of record for South Korea. The paper also pub ...

, Dongyang Broadcasting, and the American Headquarter of International Theatre Institute (ITI), co-hosted by the Rockefeller Foundation in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

). This was first full-fledged overseas tour of a Korean theater. The repertoire of this world tour theater performance is "Tae (Life Cord)" and ''Crown Prince Hamyeol'' (directed by Ahn Min-su, an adaptation of Shakespeare's original ''

''). ''Dongnang Repertory Theater Company's World Tour Return Commemorative Performance'' was held as an opportunity to attend the "World Theater Month" commemorative event hosted by the American Headquarter of International Theatre Institute (ITI), which held in New York, USA from March 15th. Following the performance at the commemorative event, the troupe toured around the U.S. in Dallas, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and Hawaii, as well as in Paris, France and the Netherlands. Before leaving the country, the troupe performed a commemorative performance of Tae (Life Cord), written by Oh Tae-seok, directed by Ahn Min-soo), one of the tour works, at the annex of the Seoul Citizens Hall from 22 to 24 February (hosted by

JoongAng Ilbo ''The JoongAng'', formally known as ''JoongAng Ilbo'', is a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and a newspaper of record for South Korea. The paper also pub ...

and Dongyang Broadcasting). They started the tour at

. Lee also joined ''Dongnang Repertory Theater Company'' in invitation performance of ''Crown Prince Hamyeol'' in American Headquarter of International Theatre Institute (ITI) World Theater Day, from 15 to 20 June 1977 in Los Angeles, United States. Lee recognized as one of notable actor in history of South Korea modern theatre in the 70s. Lee was nicknamed "The Eternal Watchman of the Theater World" because he stayed in the theatre even when his seniors and colleagues left for television dramas and movies. Lee wanted to be financially independent by only do plays, but due to circumstances after marriage with children, since 1980s he was forced to also do radio, television dramas and films. After five years with NTCK, he decided to be a freelancer. In the 80s, he worked with different theater company such as company Sanwoolim, Seongjwa, and Hyundai Theater. In 1994, Lee debuted on the musical stage in ''The stars love each other with meaning in the world.'' The musical written by an active psychiatrist, Kim Jong-il, depicts the devastated mental world of Jung Hoon, who suffers from mental illness, through various events that happen in a dream overnight which is a reminder of the importance of life. Directed by Song Mi-sook, this work was performed at the Hakjeon Small Theater from December 1, 1994 to Januari, 1995.

Career in 2000s

In 2005 Lee performed in the play ''The story of two knights moving around the world'', by

Betsuyaku Minoru was one of Japan's most prominent postwar playwrights, novelists, and essayists, associated with the Angura ("underground") theater movement in Japan. He won a name for himself as a writer in the "nonsense" genre and helped lay the foundations of ...

, one of the leading playwrights in modern Japan. Lee worked several times with playwright Lee Man-hee, his junior in at '. One of their work together was play ''Let's Go Over the Hill'' (2007), a story of a love triangle between three friends at their sunset age. Lee also worked with National Theater Company's Oh Young-soo and Jeon Yang-ja. Directed by Lee Seong-sin, it was performed at the Hakjeon Blue Small Theater in Daehak-ro. In 2006, Lee and

joined play ''Dragon and Tiger Sangbak'', directed by Oh Tae-seok. It was a reunion project after 8 years since ''A Thousand Years of Beast'' in 1997 as their last project together. It was exactly 30 years since the three of them collaborated to put on a performance at the Namsan Drama Center where they started their career. In 2010, Lee performed in the play ''Even if I deceive you'' (written by Lee Man-hee, directed by Ahn Kyung-mo to commemorates his 70th birthday. In 2015, Lee joined project to celebrate the 110th anniversary of Dongnang Yoo Chi-jin, reenactment of ''The Han River Flows''. The play performed at the Drama Center of Namsan Arts Center in Yejang-dong, Seoul. Oh Tae-seok, chair professor at

, was the director and Dong-rang's son, Yoo Deok-hyeong, president of Seoul Institute of the Arts, will be the artistic director. In 2017, four masters of the theater, met at the 2nd Neulpureun Theater Festival. Lee Ho-jae and fellow actor Oh Hyun-kyung represent actors, Director Kim Do-hoon and playwright Noh Kyung-shik represent creator. The masters have average age of 79 years old. In this festival Lee Ho-jae performed his play ''Let's Go Over the Hill''. This was written by Lee Man-hee as tribute to him and the time of its premiere in 2007, it received a great response from the middle-aged audience with his warm and pleasant gaze toward the silver age and delicious lines. Directed by Choi Yong-hoon, the play performed at Daehangno Arts Theater from August 17 to 27, 2018. In 2011, Lee was awarded the 2011 Order of Cultural Merit (Level 3) by the government. Since 2018, Lee Ho-jae became one of member of Theater, Film and Dance Division of The National Academy of Arts. In 2022, Lee performed on stage to commemorate the 60th acting anniversary. Lee Man-hee wrote a new play titled ''Jealousy'' dedicated to Lee Ho-jae. The play is centered on 'Wan-gyu' (Lee Ho-jae), who lives and runs a business alone in a plastic house office after divorce, and 'Chun-san' (Nam Myeong-ryeol), a friend. The drama depicts the romance of twilight with Sujeong (Nam Ki-ae), a local drugstore pharmacist. Directed by Choi Yong-hoon, the play performed from 27 May to 5 June 2022 at Hakjeon Blue, Daehangno, Seoul.

Filmography

Film

Television

Drama series

Variety show

Stage

Theater

Theater play in 2000s

As freelancer

As member of NTOK

As part of Dongnang Repertoire World Tour

As member of Dongnang Repertoire Theater Company

Awards and nominations

State honors

Notes

References

External links

* * *
Lee Ho-jae at Daum Encyclopedia

Lee Ho-jae at Naver

Lee Ho-jae at PlayDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ho-jae Living people People from Seoul Male actors from Seoul 1941 births Seoul Institute of the Arts alumni South Korean male stage actors South Korean male television actors South Korean male film actors 20th-century South Korean male actors 21st-century South Korean male actors