O Mi-ran (; 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 She was born on 28 August 1954 in Ot'an-dong in Chung-guyok, Pyongyang. Her father O Hyang-mun was an actor from , 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. She also had several siblings, including actress O Gum-ran.
After she was educated at the National Theater Company Actors' Training Institute, she joined the Pyongyang Art Troupe (now the Mansudae Art Troupe) as a dancer in 1972. Afterwards, she joined the April 25 Film Studio in 1979 and started working in acting, with her debut in Gun Salute (1980). 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. 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). In 1990, she won Best Korean Actress in 1st New York Inter-Korean Film Festival.
Following the start of her film career, she subsequently became well known as a film star in the country, and she reportedly had as much monthly living expenses as the average North Korean general. She was named Merited Artiste in 1984 and People's Artiste in 1987. Yonhap News Agency called her "North Korea's top actress", 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." Outside of the country, North Korean defectors consider her "the first North Korean star".
She was married to a painter since 1982. 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. O Mi-ran died on 27 June 2006 from breast cancer; she was 51. She was interred at the Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery, with Kim Jong Il himself giving her grave a wreath in her memory.
Filmography Year Title Role Source 1980 Gun Salute 1982 Notes of a War Correspondent Hye Kyong 1983 Morning Star Yong Hui 1983Following the TracesLine Girl 1984 Miles Along the Railway Jong Hui 1984 In Their Noble Image So Jin A 1984 Youth in the Shellfire Pun Hui 1986 The Birth of a New Government Part 1, 2 Ryong Mae 1986 On Unforgettable Days Son Nyo 1987 A Broad Bellflower Song Rim 1987 Chief of the Military Safety Department 1987Revolutionary Soldier1988Rights of LifePo Kum 1989 Traces of Life So Jin Ju 1989–1990 A Life Full of Ups and Downs Part 1-4 Rim So Yong 1991 Musician Jong Ryul Song Part 1, 2 Jong Sol Song 1992 Nation and Destiny Part 9-10: Cha Hong Gi Hong Yong Ja 1992Nation and Destiny Part 11-13: Hong Yong JaHong Yong Ja1994My Mother Was a Hunter1998Bloostained Mark1999–2000Nation and Destiny Part 46-51: Choe HyonSol Ran 2002 Their Life Continues So Jin Ju
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