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O Mi-ran

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O Mi-ran
오미란
O Mi-ran holding the trophy of Best Actress, 1987
Born(1954-08-28)28 August 1954
Chung-guyok, Pyongyang, North Korea
Died27 June 2006(2006-06-27) (aged 51)
Alma materNational Theater Company Actors' Training Institute
OccupationActress
Notable work
Spouse
Unknown
​
(m. 1982)​
AwardsPyongyang International Film Festival Award for Best Actress (1987 and 1990)
Merited Artiste (1983)
People's Artiste (1987)

O Mi-ran (Korean: 오미란; 28 August 1954 – 27 June 2006) was a North Korean actress. Originally a dancer at the Pyongyang Art Troupe (now the Mansudae Art Troupe), she started acting in 1979, appearing in films like A Broad Bellflower and The Nation and Destiny, winning the Best Acting Award at the 1st and 2nd Pyongyang International Film Festival, and gaining a national reputation as a cinema star.

Biography

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She was born on 28 August 1954 in Ot'an-dong in Chung-guyok, Pyongyang.[1] Her father O Hyang-mun was an actor from Jeongok-eup [ko], a town in Yeoncheon County (now in South Korea), with a North Korean defector connected to the cinema of North Korea informing Yonhap News Agency that the younger O had originally suffered prejudice due to her South Korean ancestry.[2] She also had several siblings, including actress O Gum-ran.[3]

After she was educated at the National Theater Company Actors' Training Institute,[1] she joined the Pyongyang Art Troupe (now the Mansudae Art Troupe) as a dancer in 1972.[3][4] Afterwards, she joined the April 25 Film Studio in 1979 and started working in acting, with her debut in Gun Salute (1980).[1] She later starred as Song Rim in the 1987 film A Broad Bellflower and appeared in the 1990 film Traces of Life, for which she won the Best Acting Award at the 1st and 2nd Pyongyang International Film Festival, respectively.[3][1] She also appeared in the films Morning Star (1983), A Life Full of Ups and Downs (1989-1990), The Nation and Destiny (1999-2000), and Their Life Continues (2002).[3][4][1] In 1990, she won Best Korean Actress in 1st New York Inter-Korean Film Festival.[3]

Following the start of her film career, she subsequently became well known as a film star in the country,[5] and she reportedly had as much monthly living expenses as the average North Korean general.[6] She was named Merited Artiste in 1984 and People's Artiste in 1987.[1] Yonhap News Agency called her "North Korea's top actress",[3] with the Choson Film Yearbook calling her "a comrade who kindly guides the audience to the film world by her elegant and delicate expression, clear voice, and passion."[4][3] Outside of the country, North Korean defectors consider her "the first North Korean star.[1]

She was married to a painter since 1982.[1] In 2007, Bradley K. Martin said that she was rumoured in the Pyongyang elite to have been among the mistresses kept by Kim Jong-il.[7] O Mi-ran died on 27 June 2006 from breast cancer; she was 52.[1][3] She was interred at the Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery,[4] with Kim Jong Il himself giving her grave a wreath in her memory.[3]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Source
1980 Gun Salute [3]
1982 Notes of a War Correspondent Hye Kyong [1]
1983 Morning Star Yong Hui [4]
1983 Following the Traces Line Girl [8]
1984 Miles Along the Railway Jong Hui [1]
1984 In Their Noble Image So Jin A [1]
1984 Youth in the Shellfire Pun Hui [1]
1986 The Birth of a New Government Part 1, 2 Ryong Mae [1]
1986 On Unforgettable Days Son Nyo [1]
1987 A Broad Bellflower Song Rim [1]
1987 Chief of the Military Safety Department [1]
1987 Revolutionary Soldier [8]
1988 Rights of Life Po Kum [8]
1989 Traces of Life So Jin Ju [3]
1989-1990 A Life Full of Ups and Downs Part 1-4 Rim So Yong [1][4]
1991 Musician Jong Ryul Song Part 1, 2 Jong Sol Song [1]
1992 Nation and Destiny Part 9-10: Cha Hong Gi Hong Yong Ja [1]
1992 Nation and Destiny Part 11-13: Hong Yong Ja Hong Yong Ja [1]
1994 My Mother Was a Hunter [8]
1998 Bloostained Mark [8]
1999-2000 Nation and Destiny Part 46-51: Choe Hyon Sol Ran [8]
2002 Their Life Continues So Jin Ju [1][4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Lee, Myeong-ja. "오미란". Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Academy of Korean Studies. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  2. ^ Choi, Cheok-ho (11 March 2003). "북 최고배우 오미란의 본향은 경기도". Tongil News (in Korean). Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "북 최고 여배우 오미란씨 사망". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). Yonhap News Agency. 28 June 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Six Famous North Korean Women". Koryo Tours. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  5. ^ Gabroussenko, Tatiana (12 August 2016). "The unlikely romantic: how Kim Jong-il introduced love to North Korean cinema". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  6. ^ Understanding North Korea (PDF). Ministry of Unification Institute for Unification Education. 2014. p. 380.
  7. ^ Martin, Bradley K. (2007). Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty. Macmillan. p. 319. ISBN 978-1-4299-0699-9.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Joinau, Benjamin (2024). "North Korean Feature Films Database". Retrieved 12 December 2024.
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