Bae Chang-ho: “A role model for all actors” ... Cha In-pyo also pays respects to the late Choi Bool-am

[Financial News] Film director Bae Chang-ho and actor Cha In-pyo visited the funeral home of the late Choi Bool-am (born Choi Young-han) to pay their respects. They honored him by recalling the bonds they had formed on film and television drama sets.
At the funeral hall of Asan Medical Center in Seoul’s Songpa District on the 30th, Director Bae recalled, “He was a great actor who served as a role model not only for our film industry but for actors everywhere,” adding, “In my films, too, he played a caring, fatherly figure who was like a friend, helping many people develop a deep sense of what a ‘father’ is.”
In 1987, the late actor played the father of Young-min (Ahn Sung-ki), the protagonist of Our Joyful Young Days, directed by Bae. The two had also crossed paths earlier on the set of A Fine, Windy Day, a 1980 film directed by Lee Jang-ho. Bae was an assistant director on the film at the time.
Bae said the late actor made a special appearance in director Lee Jang-ho’s comeback film, without regard to the size of the role.
“I felt that acting was a creative endeavor, like playing music,” he said. “I could sense musical elements in his acting—rhythm and dynamics, breath and emotion—and was deeply moved by his performance.”
He also recounted an encounter with a taxi driver on the way to the funeral home. Bae said, “I was on my way in a taxi, and even the driver, who didn’t recognize me, asked, ‘Are you going to pay your respects to Mr. Choi Bool-am?’ It made me realize that the whole nation was mourning him.”
Cha In-pyo also recalled his connection with the late actor. The two played father and son in the MBC drama You and I, which began airing in 1997.
Cha In-pyo said, “Even though I was a young junior colleague at the time, Mr. Choi treated me as his equal, as a person,” adding, “I remember him as a wonderful senior colleague and a good person.”
He went on to express his gratitude to the late actor, who had given the public courage and comfort for many years, and added, “I pray that he may now rest in peace in a place free of pain and suffering.”
Choi Bool-am was beloved by viewers for many years as Chief Park Young-han in Chief Detective and Chairman Kim of Yangchon-ri in Country Diaries. From 2011 through last year, he hosted KBS1 TV’s Korean Cuisine and Dining, and continued supporting children as chair of ChildFund Korea’s national supporters’ association.
The late actor passed away on the 29th while receiving inpatient treatment at a hospital in Seoul’s Gangseo District. He was 87. The five-day funeral will be held as a ChildFund Korea foundation funeral.
The funeral procession is scheduled for around 7:40 a.m. on November 2. A funeral Mass will be held at Yeouido Catholic Church in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo District at around 9 a.m. that day, followed by a farewell ceremony at ChildFund Korea headquarters at around 10:40 a.m. His final resting place will be Donghwa Gyeongmo Park in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.

[email protected] Shin Jin-a, Jang In-seo Reporter