By the late 1960s, Youn was a rising star in South Korea and won several awards for her role in Woman of Fire (1971). She retired from the spotlight for several years before returning to acting in the late 1980s. Besides Woman of Fire and Minari, Youn is known for her work in the South Korean films The Housemaid (2010), The Taste of Money (2012), The Bacchus Lady (2016), and Canola (2016). She is also known for her matriarch roles in the South Korean family drama series Men of the Bath House (1995), Be Strong, Geum-soon! (2005), Daughters-in-Law (2007), My Husband Got a Family (2012), and Dear My Friends (2016). In 2022, she appeared in the period drama Pachinko on Apple TV+.
Early life
Youn Yuh-jung was born on June 19, 1947, in Kaesong, southern Korea. She is the eldest daughter of a family with three daughters. Her father died when she was young. The family fled the city during the first and fourth retreat of the Korean War. She attended Changsin Elementary School and later Ewha Girls' High School in Seoul, South Korea.[7][unreliable source?] She graduated from high school in 1966. Afterwards, she enrolled at Hanyang University, with a major in Korean Language and Literature. When she passed open acting auditions held by TBC in 1966,[8] she dropped out of college.[9]
Career
After dropping out of college, Youn made her acting debut in the television drama Mister Gom in 1967.[10] Youn shot to stardom in 1971 with two memorable portrayals of femme fatales. Her first film, Kim Ki-young's Woman of Fire, became a critical and commercial hit,[11][12] for which she won Best Actress at the Sitges Film Festival.[13]
This was followed by the MBC historical drama Jang Hui-bin where she played the titular infamous royal concubine. Kim was considered Korea's first style-conscious, experimental director, and Youn did not balk in playing risque, provocative characters that explore the grotesque in the female psyche in collaborations with him such as The Insect Woman (1972) and Be a Wicked Woman (1990).[14] Audiences found Youn's fast way of speaking and atypical appearance refreshing and she frequently took roles in TV dramas depicting a modern woman of the new generation, notably in Stepmother (1972) written by Kim Soo-hyun.
At the peak of her career, Youn retired after she married singer Jo Young-nam in 1974, then immigrated to the United States. In 1984, she returned to Korea and permanently resumed her acting career. She and Jo divorced in 1987 and struggled to resume her acting career due to the stigma of divorce in South Korea.[15][16]
Making a comeback after taking a long break was an unusual feat for a Korean middle-aged actress.[14] Although most actresses her age played clichéd self-sacrificing mothers or coarse ajummas, Youn's acting range led to her being cast in more complex, stylish, and independent roles. In A Good Lawyer's Wife (2003), she drew critical acclaim for her nonchalant acting as a mother-in-law who neglected her husband dying of liver cancer and enjoyed extramarital affairs. Her frank and confident persona again manifested itself in E J-yong's mockumentaryActresses (2009).[17][18][19][20]
Youn continued playing supporting roles in film and television, such as in The Housemaid (2010). She reunited with director Im Sang-soo for the fourth time in The Taste of Money (2012), as a cruel chaebol heiress at the center of the drama that unfolds and touches upon the themes of corruption, greed and sex. Youn said "I don't mind being called an old actress, but I do worry about how to carry on my acting career without looking like an old fool."[21]
In 2013, she was cast as a loving mother to three loser children in Song Hae-sung's Boomerang Family.[22] Later in the year, Youn appeared in her first reality show Sisters Over Flowers, a travel show shot in Croatia.[23] After appearing on Sisters Over Flowers, Youn has stated that her public image became more positive.[24]
Youn starred in two leading roles in 2015: Kang Je-gyu's Salut d'Amour about the romance between an elderly supermarket employee and a flower shop owner,[25] and Canola about a Jeju Islandfemale diver who reunites with her long-lost granddaughter.[26]Salut d'Amour was Youn's first collaboration with actor Park Geun-hyung since 1971.[27]
In December 2022, Youn's contract with Hook Entertainment ended, and she decided not to renew after 5 years.[36] Later, in January 2023, Youn signed with Creative Artists Agency.[37]
Personal life
In December 1973, she followed her fiancé, singer Jo Young-nam, to the United States. She worked at a supermarket for $2.75 an hour to raise her two sons in St. Petersburg, Florida. She returned to Korea in 1984 and divorced her husband three years afterwards.[38]
^Visionary Awards, which started in 2020, selects and awards people who lead roles in the Korean entertainment industry. It highlights the meaning and achievements of a person whose chosen trend keywords penetrated the entertainment industry, including broadcasting, movies, music, and performances, and presents the next vision of the cultural sector with outstanding achievements and influence.[87]
References
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^Koh, Seung-ah (December 5, 2022). 윤여정, 후크와 전속계약 종료…"건강히 좋은 작품에서 뵙길 응원" [공식] [Yoon Yeo-jeong ends exclusive contract with Hook... "I hope to see you in a healthy production" [Official]] (in Korean). News1. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022 – via Naver.
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^Jeon Hyung-hwa (September 20, 2021). [단독]김선호·윤여정·김윤진, '도그데이즈'서 반려동물과 연기호흡 [종합] [[Exclusive] Kim Seon-ho, Yoon Yeo-jeong, Kim Yun-jin, smoke breathing with companion animals in 'Dog Days' [Comprehensive]]. Star News (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021 – via Naver.
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^Lee Seul (January 27, 2022). 윤여정·이민호 주연 '파친코', 3월25일 공개 ['Pachinko' starring Yeo-jeong Yoon and Min-ho Lee, released on March 25] (in Korean). Asia Economy. Archived from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022 – via Naver.
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^Lee, Hee-yong (1998-05-04). 홍대 연극가에서 여성연극 맞대결 [Play: Women's theater showdown at Hongdae Theater]. Naver News (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2023-08-04. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
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^"2021 올해의 브랜드 대상 수상 기업" [2021 Brand of the Year Grand Prize Winner]. kcforum (in Korean). August 19, 2021. Archived from the original on July 14, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
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^Choi Na-young (December 21, 2021). 구교환∙한소희, OTT 이용자가 선정한 '2021년 최고의 배우' [공식] [Koo Gwan & Han So Hee, OTT user's 'Best Actor in 2021' [Official]] (in Korean). OSEN [ko]. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021 – via Naver.
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^2023년 올해를 빛낸 영화배우 - 최근 17년간 추이 포함 [A movie star who shined this year in 2023 - including the trend of the last 17 years]. www.gallup.co.kr. Archived from the original on 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
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^Kim Soo-jin (September 15, 2021). 윤여정, 2021년 美 TIME '세계에서 가장 영향력 있는 100인'선정 [Yoon Yeo-jeong, TIME's '100 Most Influential People in the World' in 2021]. Star News (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on September 15, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
^Kim Na-young (October 28, 2021). 오스카' 사로잡은 윤여정, 문화예술 최고 금관문화훈장 수훈 ['Oscar' captivated Yeo-jeong Yoon, awarded with the highest order of culture and arts] (in Korean). MK Sports. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021 – via Naver.
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