A MODERN
BIOGRAPHY ARCHIVE
THE COLLECTION / Film & TVARCHIVE № 146
1938 —   ACTRESS / VOICE ACTRESS

KIMYOUNG-OK

Jan 6, 1938South Korea

What happened at what age?
Where were they at your age?

The year she turned 19, she appeared in the play The Monkey’s Paw. JoongAng Ilbo gives this as her debut. Around 1959 she began working in broadcasting as a Chuncheon station announcer through open recruitment. In 1961 she joined the first MBC open-recruitment voice actor class and afterward worked as both a voice actress and an actress.

In 1969 she appeared on TV for the first time, in the MBC drama Isanghan Ai. In 1971 she appeared in Chief Inspector. In 1975 she voiced Soe-dol in Mazinger Z. In 1976 she voiced Hoon in Robot Taekwon V.

In 1979 she won the Korea Theater and Film Arts Award for best actress in television. In 1980 she appeared in Jeonwon Ilgi. In 1987 she appeared in Love and Ambition.

In 1991 she played a mother with dementia in KBS’s Yesterday’s Green Grass. TV Daily wrote that it was the first portrayal of dementia. In 1993 she won the Top Excellence Award for Actress at the KBS Drama Awards. In 1998 she appeared in MBC’s Bogo Tto Bogo.

The breakthrough yearThe year she turned 66, she played a foul-mouthed grandmother in the KBS2 sitcom Old Miss Diary. My Daily wrote that the nickname Halminem she earned there made her popular across generations.

In 2005 she won the Achievement Award at the KBS Entertainment Awards. In 2011 she won the Achievement Award at the SBS Drama Awards. In 2016 she appeared in tvN’s Dear My Friends and on JTBC’s Tribe of Hip Hop. In 2018 she received the Bogwan Order of Cultural Merit at the Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards.

In 2021 she appeared in quick succession in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, Squid Game and Jirisan. In 2022 she took her first lead, in the film Take Care of Mom. In 2024 the film Picnic opened, and in December she won best actress at the Seoul Global Movie Awards and the Achievement Award at the SBS Drama Awards.

In 2025 she appeared in tvN’s Typhoon Family. In 2026 she lost her husband and appeared in IU’s music video with Na Moon-hee.

Kim Young-ok (born Jan 6, 1938) debuted in the play The Monkey’s Paw in 1957, the year she turned 19, and became known as the foul-mouthed grandmother in the KBS2 sitcom Old Miss Diary in 2004, the year she turned 66. In 2022, the year she turned 84, she took her first lead, in the film Take Care of Mom.

Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.

Full timeline · 36 records1957 — 2026   ＋
AGE / YEAR

  1. 19 · 1957
    Debut

    Stage in the play The Monkey’s Paw

    After her high school drama club she appeared in the play The Monkey’s Paw. JoongAng Ilbo gives this as her debut.

    Source 01 · JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · Interview on 69 years of acting · opens in a new tabSource 02 · My Daily (Korean) · First lead in 65 years of acting · opens in a new tabSource 04 · Star Today (Korean) · “The People’s Receipt” Kim Young-ok · opens in a new tab She said on a 2021 broadcast that she was a student in 1957 and began working in earnest in 1959.
  2. 21 · 1959
  3. 23 · 1961
    Voice

    First MBC open-recruitment voice actor class

    After working as a CBS voice actor she joined the first class of the MBC voice acting troupe, and afterward worked as both a voice actress and an actress.

    Source 02 · My Daily (Korean) · First lead in 65 years of acting · opens in a new tabSource 01 · JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · Interview on 69 years of acting · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Kim Young-ok (actress) · opens in a new tab JoongAng Ilbo gives her CBS class as the 5th and Wikipedia as the 4th open-recruitment class, so they differ.
  4. 31 · 1969
  5. 33 · 1971
  6. 37 · 1975
  7. 38 · 1976
  8. 41 · 1979
  9. 42 · 1980
  10. 49 · 1987
  11. 53 · 1991
    Key moment

    Plays Madam Park in KBS1’s Yesterday’s Green Grass

    She played a mother with dementia. TV Daily wrote that it was the first portrayal of dementia, and she herself says she was probably the first to play a senile grandmother.

    Source 07 · TV Daily (Korean) · Happy Together 4 dementia role · opens in a new tabSource 08 · Star Today (Korean) · Mamado, the first dementia role · opens in a new tabSource 01 · JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · Interview on 69 years of acting · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Kim Young-ok (actress) · opens in a new tab She says she visited a hospital to prepare for the role. The character name is from Wikipedia and not confirmed in news reports.
  12. 53 · 1991
  13. 54 · 1992
  14. 55 · 1993
  15. 58 · 1996
  16. 60 · 1998
  17. 67 · 2005
  18. 69 · 2007
  19. 73 · 2011
  20. 75 · 2013
  21. 77 · 2015
  22. 78 · 2016
  23. 78 · 2016
  24. 80 · 2018
  25. 82 · 2020
  26. 83 · 2021
  27. 84 · 2022
  28. 84 · 2022
    Key moment

    The film Take Care of Mom opens, her first lead

    My Daily wrote that it was her first lead in 65 years of acting. Star News called it a record as the oldest active lead on screen.

    Source 19 · Gangwon Domin Ilbo (Korean) · Take Care of Mom opens · opens in a new tabSource 02 · My Daily (Korean) · First lead in 65 years of acting · opens in a new tabSource 03 · Star News (Korean) · The oldest active lead on screen · opens in a new tab Gangwon Domin Ilbo wrote that it was shot at Gangneung’s Dongho Beach and other places. The March 2022 articles give the title as Take Care of Mom (Eomma-reul Butakhae).
  29. 86 · 2024
  30. 86 · 2024
  31. 86 · 2024
  32. 87 · 2025
  33. 88 · 2026
  34. 88 · 2026
    Broadcast

    Appears in the music video for IU’s “Dear my crazy soulmate”

    She is a lead of the video with Na Moon-hee. Dong-A Ilbo wrote that the two have known each other since their days as MBC voice actors.

    Source 26 · Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · IU music video · opens in a new tabSource 27 · Sports Seoul (Korean) · Behind the scenes of IU’s music video · opens in a new tab Sports Seoul wrote that it was directed by Jeon Go-woon. The release date of the video is not confirmed. IU posted photos from the set on Sept. 11.
  35. 88 · 2026

END OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 1957–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.

02 / QUICK ANSWERS

Q & AFrequently asked

How old was Kim Young-ok when she debuted?
In 1957, the year she turned 19. JoongAng Ilbo wrote that she appeared in the play The Monkey’s Paw. She says she began working in earnest in 1959.
How old was Kim Young-ok when she became famous?
In 2004, the year she turned 66, with the KBS2 sitcom Old Miss Diary, which began on Nov 22, 2004. She played a foul-mouthed grandmother and earned the nickname Halminem, and My Daily wrote that it made her popular across generations.
Where does the nickname Halminem come from?
JoongAng Ilbo explains that it combines “grandmother” and the American rapper Eminem. The nickname came from a scene in Old Miss Diary in which she unleashes a rapid-fire tirade on a rude restaurant owner.
How old was Kim Young-ok when she first played a lead role?
In 2022, the year she turned 84, with the film Take Care of Mom, which opened on Apr 13, 2022. My Daily wrote that it was her first lead in 65 years of acting, and Star News called it a record as the oldest active lead on screen.
How old is Kim Young-ok?
Born in 1938, she turns 88 in 2026 (88 as of Sep 22, 2026).
04 / ABOUT THE ARCHIVE

A LIFE,
IN CHAPTERS.

What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
Debut and breakthrough are marked separately, and every record has a source.

COLLECTION146Kim Young-ok / KIM YOUNG-OK

Film & TV · South Korea
Jan 6, 1938 —

Sources and method30 SOURCES   ＋

Ages are counted from the birth year 1938: the year of the event minus 1938, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.

  1. JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · Interview on 69 years of acting ↗Jan. 27, 2025. Kim Young-ok, born in 1938 in Gyeongseong, Gyeonggi Province (now Jongno District, Seoul), debuted in the 1957 play The Monkey’s Paw after her high school drama club, an HLZK-TV actress and a Chuncheon station announcer, 28 years with the theater troupe Sanha, the 5th CBS and 1st MBC voice actor class, elderly roles from her 30s, the first portrayal of dementia in a Korean drama in KBS’s Yesterday’s Green Grass in 1991, Old Miss Diary and “Halminem” (grandmother plus the American rapper Eminem) in 2004–2005, a narration prize at the 2020 Korea Broadcasting Awards, Picnic and the Seoul film award and SBS achievement award in 2024
  2. My Daily (Korean) · First lead in 65 years of acting ↗March 3, 2022. Active as an actress from 1957, joined the first MBC voice actors’ class in 1961, 65 years of work as a voice actress and actress with more than 100 dramas and films, popular across generations for the nickname Halminem from Old Miss Diary. The film was titled Take Care of Mom at the time
  3. Star News (Korean) · The oldest active lead on screen ↗March 5, 2022. Record as the oldest active lead in Take Care of Mom
  4. Star Today (Korean) · “The People’s Receipt” Kim Young-ok ↗Nov. 5, 2021. She says she was a student in 1957 and began working in earnest in 1959, that she worked all the time except for three months, and that the foul-mouthed grandmother role in Old Miss Diary changed her acting
  5. Wikipedia (Korean) · Kim Young-ok (actress) ↗Basis for appearances in the 1960s–1990s and award years that news reports did not confirm. Born Jan. 6, 1938, active from 1959, listed as a CBS open-recruitment 4th class voice actor, which differs from JoongAng Ilbo
  6. Newsen (Korean) · Mamado, Robot Taekwon V ↗Nov. 14, 2013. A scene in which she looks at a Robot Taekwon V album and says she voiced Hoon, a memory from her 30s
  7. TV Daily (Korean) · Happy Together 4 dementia role ↗July 18, 2019. Says she was the first to portray dementia, in the 1991 KBS drama Yesterday’s Green Grass, and that she went to a hospital to prepare for the role
  8. Star Today (Korean) · Mamado, the first dementia role ↗April 3, 2014. She says she was probably the first to play a senile grandmother
  9. Wikipedia (Korean) · Old Miss Diary ↗A KBS2 sitcom, Nov. 22, 2004 to Nov. 5, 2005, 232 episodes and four special episodes
  10. Star News (Korean) · 2005 KBS Entertainment Awards achievement award ↗Live on the night of Dec. 24, 2005, at the KBS annex in Yeouido. Shin Goo, Jung Ae-ri and Kim Young-ok won the achievement award, and she said the Ssangmun-dong slippers had won an award
  11. Newsen (Korean) · Old Miss Diary achievement award, Kim Young-ok ↗Dec. 24, 2005. An article on the same ceremony
  12. My Daily (Korean) · 2011 SBS Drama Awards achievement award ↗Dec. 31, 2011, SBS Open Hall in Deungchon-dong, Seoul. Kim Young-ok (age 74 in the article) won the achievement award
  13. Herald Business (Korean) · Cast of the film Granny’s Got Talent ↗Feb. 10, 2015. Plays a shaman grandmother who faces Kim Soo-mi in the final of a cursing battle, said to have earned the nickname Halminem for her sharp curses
  14. News1 (Korean) · Rivals on Tribe of Hip Hop ↗April 18, 2016, on MBC FM4U radio. Appearing on JTBC’s Tribe of Hip Hop, she says she has no rivals
  15. News1 (Korean) · Dear My Friends premiere ↗A tvN Friday-Saturday drama premiering on May 13, 2016, from 8:30 p.m., with Shin Goo, Kim Young-ok, Kim Hye-ja, Na Moon-hee, Joo Hyun, Youn Yuh-jung, Park Won-sook and Go Doo-shim
  16. Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Bogwan Order of Cultural Merit ↗Afternoon of Oct. 24, 2018, Olympic Hall in Olympic Park, Songpa District, Seoul, at the 2018 Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards
  17. JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · The power of Kim Young-ok, in her 80s ↗Oct. 19, 2021. Plays Kim Gam-ri in tvN’s Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, final rating of 12.7% on the 17th, the only actor in both Squid Game and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, appears in tvN’s Jirisan from the 23rd, plays Jin Dal-rae in KBS2’s Young Lady and Gentleman
  18. Xportsnews (Korean) · Hot Singers press conference ↗Online press conference on the morning of March 14, 2022. A JTBC choir variety show with a combined 990 years of age among its cast, Kim Young-ok the eldest, a choir challenge after rap
  19. Gangwon Domin Ilbo (Korean) · Take Care of Mom opens ↗Opened April 13, 2022, shot at Gangneung’s Dongho Beach and other places
  20. News1 (Korean) · Picnic confirmed for Feb. 7 ↗Jan. 11, 2024. Na Moon-hee, Kim Young-ok and Park Geun-hyung, opening Feb. 7, distributed by Lotte Entertainment, with Lim Young-woong’s own song “Grains of Sand” used
  21. News1 (Korean) · 2024 Seoul awards best actress ↗Afternoon of Dec. 5, 2024, Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Jung District, Seoul. Na Moon-hee and Kim Young-ok shared the prize for Picnic
  22. News1 (Korean) · 2024 SBS Drama Awards achievement award ↗Afternoon of Dec. 21, 2024, SBS Prism Tower in Sangam, Seoul. Kim Young-ok (age 86 in the article) won the achievement award for The Judge from Hell, with a standing ovation from the actors
  23. Dispatch (Korean) · Typhoon Family premiere ↗A tvN Saturday-Sunday drama premiering Oct. 11, 2025, with Lee Jun-ho and Kim Min-ha
  24. TV Daily (Korean) · The characters of Typhoon Family ↗Nov. 20, 2025. Written by Jang Hyun and directed by Lee Na-jeong, Kim Young-ok plays Yeom Bun-yi, whose memory fades but whose love for her family stays clear
  25. Money Today (Korean) · Her husband Kim Young-gil dies ↗May 17, 2026. Kim Young-gil, a former KBS announcer, died at 88, announced by her agency Management Yunsan
  26. Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · IU music video ↗Sept. 11, 2026. Kim Young-ok and Na Moon-hee are the leads in the music video for IU’s new song “Dear my crazy soulmate,” the two have known each other since their days as MBC voice actors, and behind-the-scenes footage is on Kim Young-ok’s YouTube channel
  27. Sports Seoul (Korean) · Behind the scenes of IU’s music video ↗Sept. 11, 2026. Photos from the set of the music video for the double title track “Dear my crazy soulmate,” directed by Jeon Go-woon
  28. TenAsia (Korean) · Eommaga Michyeosseoyo scheduled ↗Sept. 8, 2026. A new KBS 1TV daily drama following Gippeun Uri Joeun Nal, scheduled to premiere on Sept. 28 from 8:30 p.m.
  29. MBC Entertainment (Korean) · Docu Prime dementia role behind the scenes ↗July 25, 2026. The Most Beautiful Goodbye in the World was a four-part special drama for MBC’s 35th anniversary in 1996, with Na Moon-hee, Joo Hyun and Kim Young-ok, winning the Baeksang Grand Prize and Best Drama, and Kim Young-ok observed patients at a nursing home to play dementia
  30. Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Former announcer Kim Young-gil dies ↗May 17, 2026. The same news, giving his age as 89, funeral at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital

Fact-checked: 2026.09.22 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.