Veteran actress Yeo Woon-kye passes away
by javabeans
Oh, sad. Veteran actress Yeo Woon-kye passed away on May 22 after battling cancer. She had initially been diagnosed with cancer of the kidneys in 2007, and had seemed to make a full recovery. However, it was not long ago that she found out that the disease had traveled to her lungs.
Yeo was 69 years old and enjoyed a career spanning 47 years; she had been seen in numerous dramas and films over the years — if you’ve been watching dramas for a while, chances are you’ve seen her more than a few times (she was my favorite cranky granny and a great comic as well as dramatic actress).
Yeo Woon-kye began acting in the late 1950s as a university student, although her bona fide debut came when she joined a theater company following graduation in 1962. She had said in an interview of her early days, “My family strongly opposed my becoming an actor, so I had to give it up and decided to go to school to go into teaching, but even after waiting, there was no space available at school. So that’s how I started acting. It was like fate.”
Some of her more recent roles came in dramas like Dae Jang Geum in 2003, My Name Is Kim Sam-soon in 2005, Bad Family in 2006, and Golden Age of the Daughter-in-Law in 2007.
She is survived by her husband, Cha Sang-hoon (72), a former university professor, and two children (one son, one daughter).
Via Yonhap News
Tags: deaths, Yeo Woon-kye
![[Beanie Review] Love Your Enemy](https://d263ao8qih4miy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/LoveYourEnemy_reviewb.jpg)
Required fields are marked *
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
51 ob
May 22, 2009 at 9:39 PM
She truly was gifted--she brought so much to all of her roles. Loved her potty-mouth in Bad Family, her sagacity in MNIKSS and Dae Jang Geum. Now I'm gonna look for her other dramas.
She is irreplaceable in my book.
Required fields are marked *
52 creidesca
May 22, 2009 at 9:56 PM
I was shocked by news of her health weeks earlier when KBS announced her replacement in KBS' Love & Obsession a.k.a The Tale of Janghwa and Hongryeon (장화홍련) by actress Jun Yang Ja. Up to her hospitalization several weeks ago, Yeo Won-kye had filmed 18 episodes of the KBS morning daily drama.
Required fields are marked *
53 Jill
May 22, 2009 at 10:02 PM
She was an awesome actress..especially in DJG, MNIKSS ..and yes i love her the movie Mapado too..
R.I.P ma'am...you'll be greatly missed..
My Condolences to her family n friends..
Required fields are marked *
54 girl
May 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
R.I.P
Required fields are marked *
55 Jen
May 22, 2009 at 10:45 PM
@ 44: thanks for the answer, i was wondering about it :)
Required fields are marked *
56 yuu
May 22, 2009 at 11:12 PM
I missed her already....Yoo Woon Kye RIP :'(
Required fields are marked *
57 oh no...
May 23, 2009 at 5:52 AM
oh no... i just heard news that the former South Korean president also passed away... T_T
Required fields are marked *
58 Porcelain
May 23, 2009 at 6:10 AM
Goodbye... Will always remember her from DJG and MNIKSS...
Required fields are marked *
59 fan
May 23, 2009 at 7:37 AM
another recent drama she was in... 쩐의전쟁 / War of Money. she will be missed...
Required fields are marked *
60 Sophia
May 23, 2009 at 7:43 AM
it is a really sad news.
Required fields are marked *
61 Jo
May 23, 2009 at 8:08 AM
She is so beautiful. My gawd. In all her dramas, she shined and ... my gosh.
Required fields are marked *
62 j
May 23, 2009 at 12:35 PM
i cried when i saw the news. i watched her in several dramas and she was a great actress. rest in peace, you will be remembered.
Required fields are marked *
63 missmanderley
May 23, 2009 at 8:32 PM
Korea lost of one of their best veteran actresses, may she rest in peace...
I loved her in MNIKSS and Bad Family....
Required fields are marked *
64 bbm
May 24, 2009 at 12:10 AM
i love her in DJG, MNIKSS, Bad Family...
may she rest in peace and my condolence to her family...
Required fields are marked *
65 jO jO
May 24, 2009 at 12:31 PM
What part did she play in MNIKSS?
May she RIP
Required fields are marked *
66 cheflab
May 24, 2009 at 5:55 PM
dear jO jO
She was one of the staff at Samshik's cafe
[remember the part where..they interviewed samsoon?]
Required fields are marked *
67 whoa
May 25, 2009 at 12:05 AM
now this is just sad... i love the crancky grandma from bad family
Required fields are marked *
68 Thursday
May 25, 2009 at 3:22 AM
I loved her as the grandmother/chairwoman in O Pil Seung and in My Name in Kim Sam Soon where she looked so different.
Rest in peace!
Gassho!
Required fields are marked *
69 Gramps
May 25, 2009 at 3:50 AM
KBS did something very moving, yet restrained and dignified, for the closing credit sequence of today's episode of The Tale of Janghwa and Hongryeon.
I won't detract from it by trying to describe it, but admirers of Yeo Woon Kye will want to see it.
To get the full poignancy, though, those who haven't been following this drama (i.e everyone aside from me and maybe two or three others scattered across the globe) will need to know that KBS have had to reshoot key scenes from the first 18 episodes (in which Yeo Woon Kye played the role of the dementia sufferer) so that when they re-occur as flashbacks, Jeon Yang Ja is now shown in those scenes in place of Yeo Woon Kye. They even changed the various photos hanging on walls. So the footage they showed this morning, with the simple but eloquent tribute scrolling over it, was all the more touching.
Required fields are marked *
70 lanz
May 25, 2009 at 9:26 PM
@41...
Required fields are marked *
71 lanz
May 25, 2009 at 9:27 PM
@41... the swastika was used extensively before WWII, since it is a lucky charm (I think..) for Asians...trivia: The swastika is in the Diamond Sutra, since (I think...?) it represents the heart of Buddha...
Required fields are marked *
72 Beng
May 26, 2009 at 5:23 AM
oh she's sad a best actress. I think she's the one that saved the Hello! Miss kdrama. Love her there. JB, can you find pictures of her when she's young? I bet she's quite beautiful and regal =)
Required fields are marked *
73 phjfever
May 26, 2009 at 9:33 PM
may she rest in peace -- i didn't know either that she's been ill with cancer! she was really good in all the dramas i've seen of her! she'll surely be missed.
Required fields are marked *
74 Steel
October 15, 2009 at 12:38 AM
I was wondering why they change Kangs mother in Love and Obsession...and now i know why. Gosh this is tragic. R.I.P. I havent been watching the show very long but i loved her character. God bless.
Required fields are marked *
75
December 8, 2009 at 9:38 PM
May god bless you, Yeo Woon-kye. Wherever you may be, I hope you're happy. Rest In Peace. The warmest wishes to her loved ones.
Required fields are marked *
76 kris jean
December 25, 2009 at 6:11 PM
rip ms. yeo, i will miss your acting,you will be still alive on your filipino fans here in the philippines who knows you as jung sang goong in dae jang geum......rest with god in peace now,we love you ms. yeo woon kye.....
Required fields are marked *
77 seth
July 10, 2013 at 3:21 PM
What a tragic loss.she was great in dae jang geum.rest in perfect peace.
Required fields are marked *