Previously, he had been suffering from blood cancer for several years. At the opening ceremony of a special exhibition commemorating director Bae Chang-ho’s 40th anniversary in 2022, he wore a wig due to hair loss, showed his condition with a swollen face, and slurred speech and gait. The following year, he showed improvement by attending the opening ceremony of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival with Chungmuro best friends Park Jung-hoon and Choi Min-sik. However, he was unable to keep his promise to “return as an actor.” His posthumous works include the movies ‘Cassiopeia’, ‘Hansan: The Appearance of the Dragon’, ‘Birth’, and ‘Noryang: The Sea of Death’ (special appearance). All four films were filmed while fighting cancer and were released between 2022 and 2023.
I lived my whole life in film. His trademark was the deep wrinkles that formed when he smiled and the eyes that combined humor and solitude. The number of films in which he appears in the Korean Film Archive is as many as 180. From a beggar (‘Whale Hunting’) to a king (‘Eternal Empire’), to a killer (‘Nothing to be Appreciated for’), there is no role he hasn’t played. Born in the midst of modern history, the era has been engraved in movies.
Born in Daegu during the Korean War in 1952, he spent his school years in Seoul. The person who led him to the acting path was his father, Ahn Hwa-young. My father, who graduated from the College of Liberal Arts at Seoul National University and dreamed of becoming a movie star, appeared in the movie ‘Twilight Train’ directed by his friend Kim Ki-young while working as a physical education teacher. In response to a request that a child actor was needed for a work, ‘Actor Ahn Seong-gi’ started by taking the youngest of his three sons.
The boy with particularly large eyes later received the Special Boy Acting Award at the San Francisco Film Festival for his role as a pickpocket in director Kim Ki-young’s ‘Teenage Rebellion’ (1959). This is the first Korean film to win an acting award at an overseas film festival. His youthful appearance as he received the Boy Acting Award at the 1960 Best Domestic Film Award (predecessor of the Grand Bell Award) still remains in the black and white video of ‘Daehan News’. At the age of eight, she also appeared in director Kim Ki-young’s masterpiece ‘The Housemaid’ (1960), which is considered one of the great directors such as Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook. As a self-proclaimed “naughty child,” he looked back on the days when he would join the adults’ Hwatu game to catch up on sleep while filming. This is from an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo while he was alive.
Afterwards, there was a gap as the role of teenagers decreased. When I was in my third year of middle school, I retired as a child actor after appearing on stage at the National Theater in ‘Redundant Man’ with great seniors such as Lee Soon-jae, Kim Seong-ok, and Jang Min-ho. The times I spent forgetting about the entertainment industry became the foundation for my role as a small citizen later.
With the intention of participating in the Vietnam War that broke out during his time at Dongseong High School, he entered the Vietnamese language department at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and became a ROTC officer, but the war came to an end. After being discharged from the military, he returned to the film industry with the intention of acting for the rest of his life, and in 1980, he won the Daejong Award for Best New Actor for his role as Deok-bae, a delivery boy at a shabby Chinese restaurant in a developing area on the outskirts of Seoul, in the 1980 film ‘A Good Windy Day’ (directed by Lee Jang-ho).
He rose to become Chungmuro’s representative star by appearing in films that addressed the concerns of the times without hesitation.
He swept the Grand Bell Award and the Baeksang Arts Awards for his roles as an urban poor in director Lee Won-se’s ‘Small Ball Launched by a Dwarf’ (1981), a seeker in director Im Kwon-taek’s ‘Mandala’ (1981), a partisan intellectual in ‘Taebaek Mountains’, and a novelist who fought in the Vietnam War in director Jeong Ji-young’s ‘White War’ (1992), and gained widespread popularity. It depicts a wide range of human characters, including a man who desires the American dream (‘Deep Blue Night’), a crazy baseball manager (‘Lee Jang-ho’s Foreign Team’), an unlucky painter (‘Chil-su and Man-su’), a timid office worker (‘Men Are Suffering’), and an exorcism priest (‘Exorcism’, ‘Lion’).
Director Bae Chang-ho, who was the assistant director of ‘A Good Windy Day’, worked with director Bae Chang-ho on his debut film ‘Kobang Village People’ (1982), ‘Iron Men’ (1983), ‘Flower of the Equator’ (1983), ‘Whale Hunting’ (1984), ‘Deep Blue Night’ (1985), ‘Hwang Jini’ (1986), ‘The Happy Days of Our Youth’ (1987), and ‘Hello’. We worked together on ‘God’ (1987).
After director Park Kwang-soo’s ‘Chilsu and Mansu’ (1988), he also worked as a duo with actor Park Joong-hoon and Chungmuro. He left behind representative works such as the detective drama ‘Two Cops’ series and ‘Nothing to Watch’ (1998), and ‘Radio Star’ (2006), in which he plays an out-of-date star and his manager. ‘Silmido’, a true story based on a collaboration with ‘Two Cops’ director Kang Woo-seok, set a record of becoming the first Korean film to gross 10 million in box office in 2003.
He also appeared in ‘Gorgeous Vacation’ (2007) and ‘In the Name of the Son’ (2021), which depict the time of the Gwangju Democratization Movement and its aftermath, respectively, and ‘Broken Arrow’ (2012), a film based on a true story against the authority of the judiciary. In the ‘100 Best Korean Films of All Time’ selected by the Korean Film Archive in 2024 with 240 filmmakers, Ahn Sung-ki has 10 films, including ‘The Housemaid’, which ranks first, and is tied for first place with Song Kang-ho as the most selected actor.
She appeared in a brand’s coffee commercial for over 30 years starting in 1983, setting a record as the longest-serving model. In “100 Years and 100 Scenes of Korean Cinema,” a book commemorating the 100th anniversary of Korean cinema, film critic Heo Moon-young said, “As a natural person, Ahn Seong-ki is widely known for his easy-going and kind personality, but he is also famous for his strict moral restraint that even people close to him admire,” adding, “He is a star as a pseudo-friend whom the public firmly trusts and feels close to.” Ahn Seong-gi himself humbly looked back in a media interview during his lifetime, saying, “Consideration and compassion for others are a legacy I inherited from my mother.”
He also took the lead in major and minor developments in the Korean film industry. He has participated as the executive chairman of the Busan International Film Festival since 1998, and served as executive chairman of the Asiana International Short Film Festival (2003-2021) and chairman of the Shin Young-kyun Arts and Culture Foundation, helping to recruit new talent. In recognition of his contribution to the development of Korean popular culture and arts, he received the Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit from the 2013 Korea Popular Culture and Arts Awards. In addition, he received the 2023 4‧19 Democracy and Peace Award for his over 30 years of service as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Survivors include his wife, Oh So-young, a sculptor, his eldest son, Dabin, an installation artist, and his second son, Philip, an artist and actor. Ahn In-ki, former producer of KBS’ ‘National Singing Contest’ and ‘Family Entertainment Center’ and chair professor at Yewon College of Arts, is the deceased’s older brother.
