“‘Investigation Chief’ is the cornerstone of acting, ‘Country Diary’ is the shining wing”… Choi Bul-am’s 67-year acting career

Actor Choi Bul-am (real name Choi Young-han), who passed away on the 30th at the age of 87, represented the simple face of his neighbors for nearly 70 years.

From the head of the investigation team who is humane and full of justice, to the solemn head of the household, to the warm and kind father, to the chairman who protects the rural village community, he intimately portrays the lives of the common people around him.

He debuted on stage in 1959 and worked as a member of the National Theater Company. The first time he met viewers through a TV drama was 'Grand Prince Suyang' on Seoul Central Broadcasting System (now KBS) in 1967.

He appeared on the small screen in his late 20s playing Kim Jong-seo, a general in his 50s, and has been in labor roles since his youth.

Two years later, at the age of 30, he played an 80-year-old man in MBC's 'Backwind' (1969), and in his early 40s, he played the 80-year-old former President Syngman Rhee in 'The First Republic' (1981-1982), playing a character much older than he actually was.

In his 2007 essay 'On the Old Line that Life is a Play and Humans Are Actors', Choi Bul-am looked back and said, "There were times when I was upset because I couldn't play a role properly, but I was never very disappointed because I didn't get a great role."

He established himself as a national actor who lives with the times through long-running dramas such as ‘Chief of Investigation’ (1971~1984, 1985~1989) and ‘Country Diary’ (1980~2002).

In ‘Chief of Investigation’, he played the role of Chief Park Young-han, a just and humane protagonist. It deals with the dark side of criminal cases caused by rapid industrialization and urbanization, and captures the joys and sorrows of ordinary people and the human agony of detectives.

Choi Bul-am chose ‘Chief of Investigation’ as his ‘life’s work’ in several broadcasts and interviews.

In the KBS 2TV entertainment show '1 to 100', which appeared in 2017, 'Investigation Team Leader' and 'Country Diary', and in the current affairs and culture program 'Korean's Table', he mentioned 'Investigation Team Leader', saying it was "a work I worked hard on when I was young."

In his essay, he expressed his affection for the work, saying, "When I listen to the 'Investigation Chief' signal theme song, my heart still flutters," and recalled, "I realized more than one or two things about the world while appearing in 'Investigation Chief.'"

‘Investigation Chief’ contributed greatly to changing the negative image of the police at the time with its story of deep humanity and the images of investigators carrying out their duties.

Some citizens came to the broadcasting station to ask Choi Bul-am to investigate the case, and an active police officer even sent a letter expressing his gratitude to Choi Bul-am. Sometimes, ex-convicts would come to him and ask for help, and Choi Bul-am would buy them a bicycle and console them, telling them to "let's do some peddling," and on several occasions, he would send them away.

In recognition of these contributions, Choi Bul-am was first appointed as an honorary police officer in 1972, and in 2024, he became the first civilian to become the honorary head of the National Investigation Headquarters (Minister of Public Safety).

‘Chief of Investigation’ also served as an opportunity to instill a great sense of responsibility in Choi Bul-am. Choi Bul-am, who loved alcohol and friends, said in an interview in 1997, "My hobby of drinking disappeared when I appeared in 'Chief of Investigation.' I learned so much from that drama that it is no exaggeration to say that I learned life again." He also said, "An actor who plays the role of a sheriff in charge of security and an adult who guides society cannot be drunk and stumbles all the time."

In 'Country Diary', he played Chairman Kim Min-jae, the head of the family and a big adult in the village, at the center of changes in rural and family culture, and was called 'the nation's father.'

Kim Hye-ja played the role of Lee Eun-sim, his recognized wife, and worked as a married couple, Kim Yong-geon played the stern eldest son Kim Yong-jin, and Yoo In-chon played the honest second son Kim Yong-sik. Go Doo-shim and Park Soon-cheon appeared as the daughters-in-law.

Chairman Kim was the head of a large family in Yangchon-ri, a farming village, where he took care of his elderly mother and had three sons and grandchildren, including an adopted son. At home, he was a solemn yet loving father, and in the village, he was a thoughtful adult with whom people discussed everything big and small, including household chores and rice farming.

In addition, it served as a spiritual home that soothed viewers' nostalgia while conveying the meaning of a large family full of warm affection at the time when nuclear families began to form.

In his essay, Choi Bul-am said, "In 'Country Diary,' I wanted to show a father who was like a 'zelkova tree with wide shade.' I wanted to portray, even in a drama, the image of an adult who received greetings from all the villagers on holidays, patted the shoulders of young villagers who traveled a long way to return to their hometown through exhaustion both mentally and physically, and lent courage and wisdom for big and small matters."

Choi Bul-am aimed to act as if he was peeking into someone else's home. His acting philosophy was that “actors should represent people living today,” and that they should show things honestly, truthfully, and without lies.

To achieve this, the character's characteristics were analyzed from beginning to end, and even the character's habits and personality were carefully set.

Park Young-han of 'Investigation Team Leader' used a pistol, a symbol of a violent detective, a trench coat instead of handcuffs, a white handkerchief, and four cigarettes as his trademark.

In an MBC documentary aired in May, he said, "While my mother was monitoring the broadcast, she said, 'If you treat criminals with spirit, not pistols or handcuffs, won't the people respond and applaud you?'" He also revealed the reason why he used props that show humanity in the play.

At the time, former President Park Chung-hee was such a fan that he watched ‘Chief of Investigation’ every week. During her lifetime, First Lady Yuk Young-soo called Choi Bul-am directly and said she was concerned about the health of her husband and the public, and suggested, "How about reducing the number of smoking scenes a little?" Choi Bul-am recalled, "The phone call I received at this time taught me a lesson for the rest of my life. It is a scary and scary restriction that if I do something bad, the people will follow suit."

In 'Country Diary', he personally sprayed colored spray on the floor to represent his father, who wears a singlet with holes in it and protects his burnt lower neck, and got into a fight with the broadcasting station's props team.

In his essay, Choi Bul-am looked back, "'Chief of Investigation' was like the cornerstone of my acting, and 'Country Diary' was like a shining wing that took me to a higher level."

He worked on films such as 'Light and Shadow' (1967), 'Yeomajeok' (1968), 'Manjong' (1970), 'Apostasy' (1974), 'Youngja's Golden Age' (1975), 'Wangsimni' (1976), 'I Really Really Like You' (1978), 'A Good Windy Day' (1980), 'The Happy Days of Our Youth' (1987), He has appeared in numerous films, including ‘Don’t Be a F*ck’ (2004) and ‘Undercover’ (2005).

He shined on the screen by playing a high priest trying to inherit the Dharma tradition in 'Apostate', a father trying to protect the past in 'Run, Manseok' (1979), a detective who doggedly pursues a murder case in 'Son of Man' (1980), and an old man living with the scars of the Korean War in his heart in 'The Last Witness' (1980).

Since the 1980s, I have focused on drama. He confessed, "I decided that movies were not my thing," and "I put movies off my back since the 1980s. I deliberately avoided appearing in movies."

Kim Hye-ja is a name that cannot be left out in his acting career. Kim Hye-ja and Kim Hye-ja worked together on numerous works, starting with 'Frog Husband' (1969-1970) and ending with 'Palace' (2006), and were called a 'combi'.

They played a married couple for 22 years in 'Country Diary', 'Gangnam Family' (1974), 'Bride's Diary' (1975-1976), 'You' (1977-1978), 'Mrs. Anguk-dong' (1979-1980), 'Yesterday, and Tomorrow' (1982-1983), 'Autumn of Sojang Hong' (2004), and 'Palace'. In dramas such as these, they acted like a real couple, so many viewers mistook them for a real couple.

I wasn't afraid of the challenge of acting. In 'You and I' (1997-1998), which had a viewer rating of 66.9% in the last episode, he played 'Captain Park' Park Jae-cheon, who has lived his entire life in romance. He shed the image of the humanist of 'Investigation Chief' and the father of 'Country Diary' and swept the living room by his tough and even sexy masculine beauty. The middle-aged love triangle played with Lee Kyung-jin and Park Won-sook was so hot that viewers voted on its ending.

When fellow actor Oh Ji-myeong first took on the megaphone with the movie 'Don't Be Funny' (2004), he took on the challenge of making movies again, something he had avoided for over 20 years. In this work, he attempted to transform into an old-age comical action role that added friendliness and cheerfulness.

In the SBS drama 'Sikgaek' (2008), he gave up a haircut for nine months and played the role of Oh Sook-su, an authority on royal cuisine, in an unconventional way with his ponytail, high-pitched voice, and delicate hand movements.

After appearing in the SBS drama 'A Good Day' in 2014, Choi Bul-am almost stopped acting for a while before appearing on stage in the play 'When the Wind Blows and the Stars Shake' in 2018 for the first time in 25 years.

He appeared on the SBS entertainment show 'All The Butlers' and expressed his thoughts by saying, "It's not retirement, it's stepping down." He said, "I quit because I felt like I wasn't making any progress because the production team only made it difficult for me rather than criticizing my acting."

The last work in which he acted was ‘Investigation Team Leader 1958’ (2024). This drama is a prequel to 'Chief of Investigation' (a sequel that tells the story earlier in time), and Choi Bul-am played Park Young-han again in 'Chief of Investigation', stimulating nostalgia among viewers. Lee Je-hoon played Park Young-han's grandson, Detective Park, and Park Young-han as a young man before he became a class leader.

Choi Bul-am decorated the beginning and end of 'Investigation Team Leader 1958', connecting the two works across eras. The way he encouraged his grandson and junior police officers who became just police officers, and visited the graves of his deceased colleagues, saluted them and said "goodbye" with tears, was evaluated as the true ending of 'Chief of Investigation.'