It has been 12 years since veteran actress the late Hwang Jeong-soon, who represented the Korean film industry, passed away.
Hwang Jeong-soon died on Feb. 17, 2014, from dementia and chronic illness. She was 88. Born on Aug. 20, 1925, in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, he was deeply loved by the public as the "mother figure" representing the Korean film industry in the 1960s and 1970s.
According to the Korean Movie Database (KMDb), Hwang Jeong-soon appeared in as many as 377 films. She debuted in the 1941 film "You and I," directed by Heo Yeong, and later rose to leading actress status through films such as "Pasi" (1949) and "Women's Diary" (1949). In 1957, she firmly cemented her presence as an actress by winning the best actress award at the 1st Korean Critics Association Awards for the film "Love," directed by Lee Gang-cheon.
In the 1960s, he took on caring yet strict mother roles in films such as "Mr. Park" (1960), "The Coachman" (1961), "Daughters of Mr. Kim" (1963) and "Dried Yellow Corvina" (1963), establishing herself as the "national mother." In particular, the series that began with "Paldo Gangsan" in 1967 is regarded as a representative work that branded Hwang Jeong-soon as the mother of the era.
However, her acting did not always remain confined to gentle mother roles. In "Confessions of the Flesh" (1964) she played a charismatic bar girl, and in "Daughter-in-law" (1965) she played a vicious mother-in-law, demonstrating a wide spectrum. Critics said she built a distinctive persona that set her apart from her contemporaries through expressive acting and outgoing energy.
When the film industry entered a slump after the 1970s, she expanded her activities to television and the stage. Her sophisticated modern grandmother role in the KBS drama "Ordinary People" opened another heyday.
The month after Hwang Jeong-soon's death, the release of the late actress's will drew attention and sparked a dispute over her estate. After her death, an inheritance dispute arose over a Seoul Samcheong-dong house valued at about 8 billion won.
In March 2014, the late actress's will, revealed on MBC's current affairs program "Real Story Eye" (released by a niece's granddaughter), read, "It is enough that I sacrificed myself to support you until now, so I cannot leave any of my property as an inheritance. I never once gave pocket money, and I only treated you to meals two or three times a year at most, so I feel betrayed and the emptiness of life," the will said. But the stepson contested the contents, saying the late actress suffered from dementia and the contents could not be trusted.
As the late actress's three adopted sons and daughters fought over the will, the production team also revealed that she had run a scholarship foundation for young actors for decades. In fact, she served as a director of Seoul Institute of the Arts and established the "Hwang Jeong-soon Scholarship" to support juniors, leaving a significant legacy as an educator and senior figure in addition to being an actress.
[Photo] OSEN DB, broadcast capture
[OSEN]