Born SHIN Sun-gi in 1936, when Korea was part of the Japanese Colonial Empire, SHIN Gu is one of the longest lasting and most respected actors in Korea. Now with over 70 years of experience in the show business, SHIN started as a stage performer when he was just four years old. Later, he attended Sungkyungwan University, where he studied Korean Language and Literature, but ultimately dropped out. Once he completed his military service, he made his adult debut on stage in 1962...More

Born SHIN Sun-gi in 1936, when Korea was part of the Japanese Colonial Empire, SHIN Gu is one of the longest lasting and most respected actors in Korea. Now with over 70 years of experience in the show business, SHIN started as a stage performer when he was just four years old. Later, he attended Sungkyungwan University, where he studied Korean Language and Literature, but ultimately dropped out. Once he completed his military service, he made his adult debut on stage in 1962, before becoming a TV actor in 1969 when he joined Seoul Central Broadcasting (now KBS). After gaining wide recognition with TV series <The Story of Master Heo> (1972), SHIN debuted as a feature film actor in 1973, when he appeared in <Homecoming> and <Night Flight>. Throughout the 1970s he appeared in several more films, but in the 80s he focused most of his energies on TV series. He was once again more active on the big screen the following decade, appearing in notable titles such as the high school drama <Our Twisted Hero> (1992) and the classic melodrama <Christmas in August> (1998), as HAN Suk-kyu’s ailing father. SHIN was at his most active in the film field in the oughts, when Korea’s film industry exploded. He was seen in films such as KIM Jee-woon’s <The Foul King> (2000), RYOO Seung-wan’s <No Blood No Tears> (2002), JANG Jin’s <Murder, Take One> (2005) and the JANG Jin-produced <Going By the Book> (2007). Since 2010 he has remained a presence on both the big and small screen. He experienced a career resurgence in 2014 thanks to his participation in the cultural phenomenon that was variety show <Grandpas Over Flowers>, in which senior actors were sent on a backpacking tour across Europe, allowing him to find a new audience among the younger generations. As a result, he began receiving offers for film roles again and was notably cast against type as a man suspected of being a serial killer in the thriller <Bluebeard> (2017). He later returned to his traditional role as a cheerful grandfather in <Be-Bop-A-Lula>, a comedy reminiscent of <Grandpas Over Flowers> in that it followed elderly people trying to find a way of feeling young again. Less