| Lee Eon | |||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 5 February 1981 | ||||||||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Park Sang-min | ||||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Busan, South Korea | ||||||||||||||||
| Death Place: | Hannam-dong, Seoul, South Korea | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Actor, model | ||||||||||||||||
| Years Active: | 1999–2008 | ||||||||||||||||
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Lee Eon (; 5 February 1981 – 21 August 2008) was a South Korean actor and model best known for his performance in the Korean television series Coffee Prince.
Lee Eon was born Park Sang-min on 5 February 1981. Lee began practicing ssireum while in elementary school, going on to win gold medals at Korean national ssireum competitions in 1997 and 1998. As a freshman at university, he was inspired by Cha Seung-won to become a model, and after losing 30kg (70lb) made his debut at a fashion show in Busan in 1999. His later fashion show appearances included the Seoul Fashion Artists Association Collection.[1]
Lee branched out into acting, making his film debut in 2006;[2] he played a ssireum wrestler in Like a Virgin, putting his skills to good use and helping lead actor Ryu Deok-hwan learn the moves.[3] He later appeared in the 2007 hit drama series Coffee Prince, and made his final appearance in KBS period drama Strongest Chil Woo.
Lee died in a motorcycle accident on 21 August 2008. He had been riding home from a party celebrating the airing of the last episode of Strongest Chil Woo, when his motorcycle hit the guardrail of an overpass in Hannam-dong, Seoul, at around 2 a.m. He died at the scene from a broken neck and was taken to the nearby Soonchunhyang University Hospital. Many of his colleagues attended his funeral, including Gong Yoo, his co-star in Coffee Prince, who took leave from his military service to hold Lee's memorial tablet in the procession to the grave site.[4]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Like a Virgin | Park Joon-woo |
| 2007 | When Spring Comes (TV) | Gi-dong |
| Coffee Prince (TV) | Hwang Min-yeop | |
| 2008 | Who Are You? (TV) | Kwon Yong-deok |
| Strongest Chil Woo (TV) | Ja-ja |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Most Popular Actor | |||
| Best New Actor |