Youn Yuh Jung redefined the meaning of being a part of the OG golden generation of Korean actors and actresses. In her career, she has worked for over fifty-five years. She has worked in many renowned Korean films, such as Woman of Fire (1971), The Housemaid (2010), The Taste of Money (2012), and The Bacchus Lady (2016), as Youn Yuh Jung’s net worth has risen over the years.
Since she has worked for such a long time in the film and drama industry, she has a lot of accolades. Some of her accolades include the prestigious BAFTA, the ambitious Oscar, and an Independent Spirit Award as well. While she has been a well-known actress in the Korean film and drama industry, she has been recently recognized internationally for the amazing work that she has done in the independently produced movie “Minari,” released in 2020.
Paving paths for the deserving Korean film industry, her flawless portrayal of Soon-Ja made her the first Korean woman to win a Screen Actors Guild Award, Indie Spirit Award, British Academy Film Award, and the Academy Award, as well as the first to be nominated for a Critics’ Choice Movie Award, all in the Best Supporting Actress category.
Height, Weight, & Age
Born on 19 June 1947, Youn Yuh Jung is presently 74 years old, and she is still working in the film and drama industry. Being born in June makes actress Youn Yuh Jung a Taurus, who are known to be hard-working and stubborn go-getters who stop at nothing to get what they want in life. Starting her long and illustrious career in the year 1966, she was on her way to becoming a famous actress when she suddenly went away from the spotlight for a few years. She re-emerged in the public scene in the late 1980s.
When it comes to her physical attributes, there is not much known about her except for the fact that her height is 1.64 meters, or 5 feet and 4.5 inches.
Youn Yuh Jung’s Role As A Leading Lady
Fans seldom know that Youn Yuh Jung actually dropped out of college in order to pursue her passion for acting. Her first acting gig was way back in the year 1967 when Youn Yuh Jung got a role in the drama series Mister Gom. 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, for which she won Best Actress at the Sitges Film Festival.
After these roles skyrocketed her to fame, Youn Yuh Jung got to play another one of her famous roles in the MBC drama, Jang Hui-bin, where she played the titular infamous royal concubine. In another one of her projects, The Insect Woman (1972) and Be a Wicked Woman (1990), she was able to change the public perception of what women needed to be like and act in movies. Youn Yuh Jung was singlehandedly responsible for women getting more experimental roles in films and dramas where they could redefine the meaning of being feminine and could subvert popular expectations of the people as well.
All good things must come to an end since she made a choice to marry singer Jo Young Nam during the peak of her career, and subsequently, she moved to the United States in the year 1974. However, tragedy was quick to strike in the year 1984. Just ten years after her marriage, she came back to Korea to return to her first love – acting. It was later revealed that she had divorced Jo Young Nam. Due to this divorce, she found it hard to get good acting roles since there was a lot of stigma surrounding divorce in Korea at that time. Along with Lee Min Ho, Youn Yuh Jung is currently starring in the critically acclaimed TV adaptation of the book “Pachinko” where she plays the titular role of an old Sunja.
What Is Youn Yuh Jung’s Net Worth?
Youn Yuh Jung’s net worth is estimated to be between $1 and $2 million, with most of her earnings coming from her acting profession. Youn Yuh Jung, despite being a household name in the industry, shows no signs of slowing down. Youn Yuh Jung returns with a star-studded and highly anticipated series, Pachinko, under Apple TV+ on 25 March, a year after the premiere of Minari. Lee Min Ho, Kim Min Ha, Anna Sawai, Jin Ha, and others join the Oscar winner.
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