Kwon Mi-hae


Kwon Mi-hae is a South Korean former film and television actress. She was one of the first professional voice actresses in the country and is known for starring in Kim Ki-young's Iodo, and ''The Deaf Worker.''

Early life

Kwon Mi-Hae was born to poor farmers at the beginning of the Korean War. She couldn't afford school and learned to read and write Korean by singing hymns at church. Kwon worked packing medicine at a pharmacy and attended night school. Kwon eventually audited courses at Hanyang University, where she met Lee Cheol-hyang, whom she would later marry.

Career

When Dong-A Broadcasting System held its first auditions, Kwon passed all seven rounds and became one of the first professional voice actresses in the country. Kwon's first script was a translation of Tarzan, where she voiced Jane.
After South Korea's first national television station, KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) was founded in 1961, and they aired the first television series in 1962. Their commercial competitor, Tongyang Broadcasting, had a more aggressive program policy and aired controversial dramas as well. In the 1960s, television sets had been of limited availability, but in the 1970s, they started to spread among the general population. Dramas evolved from portraying dramatic historical figures to introducing national heroes like Yi Sun-sin or Sejong the Great. Contemporary series dealt with personal sufferings, such as Kim Soo-hyun's influential Stepmother, aired by MBC in 1972 and 1973. In 1973, Kwon was among the first actresses to land leading roles in major K-dramas, including Kim Ki-young's Iodo and The Deaf Worker. The next decade she starred in Seoul Ddukbaegi, and the 1995 TV series ''Friday's Lady.''

Personal life and family

Kwon hosted private dinners for industry colleagues, actors like Lee Soon-jae, and television executives, people like fashion designer André Kim and a former Miss Korea. In the Aughts, after Lee Cheol-hyang died in a car accident, Kwon who was left with very little by an alcoholic husband, sold her belongings to move to the U.S. to live with her son and his family in Virginia suburbs.
Kwon's granddaughter is American magazine writer Vivian Lee.
Kwon currently forbids being photographed.