Netflix Star Dead at 81: Actor Byun Hee-bong Appeared in 'Okja'

The actor was best known for his collaborations with Joon-ho, including 2006's The Host and Netflix's Okja.

By Allison Schonter

Veteran South Korean actor Byun hee-bong, who appeared in several films by Oscar-winning director Bong Joon Ho, including Netflix's Okja, has died. Byun's family confirmed to local news outlet Yonhap News Agency that the actor died Monday following a long battle with pancreatic cancer that had previously been cured but came back. He was 81.

Born in Jangseon, South Jeolla Province in 1924, Byun began his career in live theater before making the transition to television as a voice performer for state TV network MBC in 1966. After making his small screen debut in 1970, Byun went on to star in several TV series, including The First Republic (1981), The Joseon Dynasty 500 Years: Seoljungmae (1985), and The Legendary Doctor – Hur Jun (1999). Byun would go on to appear on the big screen, developing a close working relationship with Parasite filmmaker Bong Joon-ho. Throughout his career, Byun starred in four films by the Oscar winner – Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006), and Okja, the 2017 film that marked Netflix's film production debut in Korea.

Byun's other credits include appearing as a season regular in MBC's 2003 mini-series Something About 1%, 2010's My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, the series Grandpas Over Flowers Investigation Team, and the IHQ-NEW-backed series Pinocchio. His final acting credit was in the 2019 K-drama series My Lawyer, Mr. Jo 2: Crime and Punishment, a sequel to the popular 2016 series My Lawyer, Mr. Jo, per NME.

Throughout his career, Byun picked up half a dozen best supporting actor nominations, including the Baeksang Arts Award for Most Popular Actor in 1985 and Best Supporting Actor at the 2006 Blue Dragon Film Awards for his performance as Hie-bong in The Host, the top-grossing Korean film of all-time, according to the Daily Mail. He was also voted the most popular actor in the TV category at the 21st Baeksang Arts Awards for his role in The Joseon Dynasty 500 Years. In 2020, he was awarded the Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit, the Korean government's second-highest class of the South Korean cultural decoration, in recognition of his contribution to the development of the nation's pop culture.

News of his passing sparked an outpouring of tributes online, including from the official Netflix X (formerly Twitter) account, which tweeted a photo of the actor in Okja. One fan remembered the star as "such a wonderfully warm presence on screen," with somebody else writing, "RIP to Byun Hee-bong, an actor with standout roles in four of Bong Joon-ho's films – truly an icon rip good sir." According to AllKPop, Byun's funeral will be held in Samsung Seol Hospital's mortuary.

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