Celebrated South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki died on January 5, just four days after celebrating his 74th birthday. Known affectionately as “The Nation’s Actor”, Ahn starred in more than 100 feature films over the course of a career that spanned almost his entire life.
After making his screen debut at age five in Kim Ki-young’s 1957 film Twilight Train, Ahn went on to appear in The Housemaid in 1960, widely regarded as the finest Korean film ever made.
After a hiatus for education and mandatory military service, Ahn made a triumphant return to acting, winning the best new actor prize at the 1980 Grand Bell Awards for his performance as a lovestruck restaurant worker in Lee Jang-ho’s A Fine, Windy Day.
