Hong Gyeong Il, known professionally as Nam Goong Won, was a South Korean actor.

He graduated from Jungang High School and later he received an honorary bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Hanyang Institute of Technology. He made his debut as a theater actor with a role in the play "Tree Fog in the Herbarium" and then made his film/TV debut in 1958 with a role in the movie "When the Night Comes Again" (그 밤이 다시 오면).

He was forced to dropped out of college when his mother was diagnosed with uterine cancer and he became an actor to earn money to pay for her treatment. She eventually passed away and he was convinced by Director Shin Sang Ok to remain in the industry as he believed his acting skills were too great and his image too good to go to waste if he quit.

He was a popular actor of the 1960s and 1970s and he was often called South Korea's Gregory Peck and appeared in hundreds of productions during his long career.

In 2015, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and his condition worsened as they years went by. On February 5, 2024, he passed away at the Asan Medical Center in Seoul at the age of 89. His funeral took place on February 8 and he was buried at Gwangneung Memorial Park in Pocheon.

(Source: kisskh) Edit Biography