Jung Dong-hwan

Jung Dong-hwan (born August 5, 1949) is a South Korean actor. Jung began his career in theater, then was most active in Korean cinema in the 1980s, with leading roles in Late Autumn (1982), Jung-kwang's Nonsense (1986), and A Top Knot on Montmartre (1987). As he grew older, Jung appeared more frequently in television, notably in The Last Station (1987), Three Kim Generation (1998), Winter Sonata (2002), Rustic Period (2002), Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin (2004) and Freedom Fighter, Lee Hoe-young (2010).

Early years and education
Jung was born in Gimje, as second and youngest son. He spent his childhood in Huam-dong, Seoul with his mother and his older brother. He proudly remember as being one of the first visitors to Namsan Library when it opened.

Since he was young, Jung enjoyed watching plays. His first experience watching play was students performances from the theater department of Joongdong High School. At that time, there weren't as many theatre performances as now, he was seeing only one or two plays a year. After repeating a year, He enrolled in Joongdong High School with the sole intention of pursuing theater. At that time, the theater class at Jungdong High School was unparalleled among high school theater classes. Luckily, starting from his first year, he was given lead roles. The first play he ever performed was an adaptation of Augusta Gregory's "When the East is Turning Gray," which was adapted by the renowned playwright Noh Kyung-sik.

In the second semester, he entered the drama class. In 1965, when he was a freshman in high school. He participated in the National High School Male and Female Student Theater Competition with a play called 'Sunrise' and he won the Best Acting Award. The competition's host was Dongnang Yoo Chi-jin (1905-1974).

After failed his college entrance exam, Jung decided to enter the Seoul Academy of Dramatic Arts, founded by Dongnang Yoo Chi-jin, which was predecessor of today Department of Theater and Film of Seoul Institute of the Arts. Yoo gave Jung a full scholarship on the condition that he work as a stage manager in Dongnang Repertoire Theater Company. He embarked on his acting journey from the ground up, learning from esteemed theater figures like Lee Ho-jae and Jeon Moo-song. As soon as he entered, young elite theatrical figures of the time, such as Yoo Deok-hyung, Ahn Min-soo, and Yoo Min-young, returned from studying abroad. Meeting them and getting to know a new theater culture was a big turning point in his life.

Early career
He made his professional debut in the play "Stranger" in 1969. However, his scholarship was later changed to a partial one, making it difficult for him to afford tuition fees. In the early 1970s, facing financial struggles, Jung decided to enlist in the military before completing his education and was deployed to the Vietnam War. He was served as a combat engineer. While the typical enlistment period was 12 months, Jung had to serve for 18 months due to the critical state of the military at the time. He was discharged in 1973 and returned home.

Despite having some money from his time in Vietnam, Jung couldn't resume his studies due to the challenging circumstances his family faced. The urgency to make a living took precedence. Upon his return, he took the 6th Dong-A Broadcasting Voice Actor Test and passed, triumphing over a competition ratio of 1000:1. He worked as a voice actor for only a year and a half before leaving his job at Dong-A Broadcasting.

In the following autumn, he traveled to Okinawa and worked as a sugarcane farm laborer. After saving some money during the few months he spent there, he returned to Korea. In 1975, he landed a role as Prince in the play "Prince of the Horse," which turned out to be a box office success and established him as an actor. However, he still couldn't sustain himself solely through theater work. Jung reminisced about his time doing manual labor in Okinawa, "The hourly wage was about the daily rate in Korea at the time, but I lived on the theater stage with the money I earned there, and when the money ran out, I went there again."

Screen debut, study abroad
Jung made his small screen debut in 1978 with the KBS drama "Wild Geese," where he showcased his acting talent. His outstanding performance in the drama earned him the prestigious Baeksang Award for New Actor.

In 1981, he starred alongside Kim Hye-ja in director Kim Soo-yong's film Late Autumn (1982 film), which was released in 1982. He made his mark as lead actor.

Then in 1982, he flew to the United States to pursue his passion for acting and enrolled at the renowned Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, Los Angeles. Determined to finance his education, he took on a range of jobs, including working as a nighttime building cleaner, to support his acting studies.

In March 1985, He returned to small screen with TV Novel: The Sky at Daybreak. Followed by film Jung-kwang's Nonsense (1986), and A Top Knot on Montmartre (1987). Since then, Jung have been living without a break, going back and forth between TV, movies and plays, notably in The Last Station (1987).

In 1990, he portrayed Vladimir in Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot for the first time. Despite being in his prime at the age of 41, the iconic absurd play posed a formidable challenge. When he first saw the script, he wondered, "Why is this in Korean but so difficult to read?" It was only after repeated rehearsals that he truly grasped the essence of the work. In October of that year, he performed Waiting for Godot in Beckett's homeland of Dublin, Ireland. The local media, The Irish Times, published an article on the top right of the front page, stating, "The wait was worthwhile for the arrival of Godot from the East."

Jung appeared more frequently in television, Three Kim Generation (1998), Winter Sonata (2002), Rustic Period (2002). In 2003 Jung acted the role of Edward Damson, famous English playwright, in the Korean premiere of Peter Shaffer's The Gift of the Gorgon.

Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin (2004) and Freedom Fighter, Lee Hoe-young (2010).

In June 2009, Jung reprise the role of Edward Damson, famous English playwright, in the Korean encore of Peter Shaffer's The Gift of the Gorgon. His intellectual wife, Helen, was played by Seo Yi-sook. It was performed from the 10th to the 21st at the Arko Arts Theatre in Daehak-ro, Seoul.

In 2013, Jeong played the role of poet Virgilius in Dante's Divine Comedy a play performed for the first time in Korea, at the Namsan National Theater on the 29th.

In 2015, for the first time in 25 years, Jeong met the audience again as Vladimir. He, Ahn Seok-hwan, Kim Myung-guk, Lee Ho-sung, and 13 famous actors who have gone through this work have come together. It is a place to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the premiere of play Waiting for Godot directed by Sanullim Theatre Company and the 30th anniversary of the opening of the small theatre Sanullim. Despite 50 years of acting skills, he has been in the practice room almost every day since the beginning of January.

In 2017, Jung appeared in the play The Brothers Karamazov, based a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It became a hot topic with a total running time of 7 hours, and received a standing ovation from the audience for 20 minutes without a break. He said, "I wasn’t confident every day if I could finish the performance properly and come down. I thought I didn’t know when and what would happen from day to the end, but I believed that it was something I had to do to try until the end."

In 2019, Jang acted as Noh Joon-suk, in tvN fantasy drama Hotel del Luna, as hotel's general manager for 30 years. He considers Man-wol (played by Lee Ji-eun) as a sister, daughter and friend. Jung won Lifetime Achievement Award at 12th Korea Drama Awards for his role.

In 2021, Jung joined special performance of play The Brothers Karamazov to celebrate Dostoyevsky's 200th birthday. Also in 2021, Jung acted as Simeon Cheney in Pascal Quignard's first play In the Garden We Loved, winner of the 2018 Deauville 'Book and Music Award', based on the novel with the same name.

Personal life
In 1982, Jung divorced his ex-wife before embarking on a journey to the United States. He flew to Los Angeles to pursue his passion for acting and enrolled at the renowned Lee Strasburg Theater Institute. Jung did manual labor to cover for his tuition and living cost.

It was in 1985 that he crossed paths with singer Jeong Yun-seon, introduced to him by a mutual friend. Jeong, a former 70s singer who had retired in the United States after her manager's unfortunate demise from leukemia, became a significant presence in Jung's life. Their engagement ceremony took place at the Palace Hotel on February 12, 1986, followed by their marriage in September of the same year. Their wedding was officiated by playwright Lee Hae-rang. Together, they have been blessed with one son and two daughters. Notably, their second daughter, Jung Ha-nui, has made a name for herself as a talented theater actress.

In an interview with Woman Chosun in 2014, Jung opened up about his personal struggles, disclosing that he had been dealing with panic disorder.