Squid Game actress Lee Joo-sil died on Sunday (Feb. 2), Joong Ang Daily reports. She was 81.
According to the South Korean outlet, Lee was diagnosed with stomach cancer three months ago. Her talent agency, 1230 Culture, informed the publication that she died in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi at St. Mary’s Hospital.
Per Chosun Ilbo, Lee also fought breast cancer approximately 30 years prior, though she was reportedly told she would have only one year to live. As she shared in July 2023, she “found out at the end of stage 3 and it soon became stage 4,” and “overcame it well because [she had] children.”
Lee recently appeared in Squid Game‘s sophomore season, which premiered on Netflix in December, portraying the mother of Wi Ha-Joon‘s Hwang Jun-ho and the stepmother of Lee Byung-hun‘s Front Man, Hwang In-ho, per the New York Post.
In her other TV and film work, Lee earned credits in Korean productions Lady President, Stormy Woman, Train to Busan, Notebook from my Mother (2018), It’s Beautiful Now, and The Uncanny Counter, among others.
Before taking to the screen, she launched her acting career on stage in the 60s, eventually acting in productions such as Death of a Salesman and Macbeth, per the Joong Ang Daily.
A June 27 release date for Squid Game Season 3 was announced last week. Per Netflix’s Jan. 30 press release, the third and final installment will pick up “where the second season left off.”
According to Chosun Ilbo, Lee’s funeral is set to take place on Wednesday (Feb. 5).
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