Kim Tae-hee was born on 29 March 1980, inUlsan, South Korea. Her father is Kim Yoo-moon, who established, and is chairman of, Hankook Union Transportation Company in 1984. She is often involved in various charities to help out underserved youths and broken families in the Ulsan area.[3] She has an older sister, Kim Hee-won, and a younger brother, Kim Hyung-soo (stage nameLee Wan); the latter is also an actor.[7][8] She attended Samshin Elementary School, Daehyun Middle School,[9] and then enrolled at Ulsan Girls' High School.[10]
In 1999, Kim moved toSeoul to attend college at the prestigiousSeoul National University, where she became the president of the SNU Women's Ski Club. In 2005, she graduated from SNU with abachelor's degree in fashion design.[11][12][13]
In 2000, an advertising executive saw Kim riding the subway, and offered her amodeling job. Kim appeared in television commercials and print ads, before making her acting debut with a small role in the 2001 melodramaLast Present.[11] In 2002, she starred in theshort filmLiving in New Town and thesitcomLet's Go, followed byScreen andA Problem at My Younger Brother's House in 2003.
Kim rose to stardom in 2003 via her portrayal of the evil stepsister in the popularSBS TV seriesStairway to Heaven.[14][15][16] Starting 2004, Kim was cast in leading roles in her succeeding projects, including the supernaturalKBS seriesForbidden Love and the SBS campus romanceLove Story in Harvard.[17][18] The latter drew solid viewership ratings nationwide throughout its run with a peak viewer rating of 20 percent and won Kim the Most Popular Actress award in TV category at theBaeksang Arts Awards.[19]Love Story in Harvard was also reportedly well-received by Japanese viewers and contributed to Kim's popularity in the country.
Riding the big success ofStairway to Heaven andLove Story in Harvard, Kim became one of the most sought-after faces in the TV commercial industry.[20][21][22] She was picked by Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation as the top advertising model of the year in 2008, earning her title of "CF Queen".[23] However, Kim expressed her desire to be valued properly as an actor, preferring to succeed based on her acting skills rather than her image.
Back on the small screen in 2009, Kim played anNISprofiler in the spy action thrillerIris.[30] It was one of the most expensive Korean dramas ever produced and was a critical and commercial success with an average viewership rating of 30%.[31] Kim shed tears at theKBS Drama Awards when she won an Excellence Award in a Mid-length Drama; which was her first acting award, excluding newcomer and popularity awards.[32]
Kim in September 2010
Kim left her then-agencyNamoo Actors[33] in January 2010 to join Lua Entertainment, which was founded by her brother-in-law. That year, she also played a horse jockey who dreams of winning the championship in the sports filmGrand Prix.[34]
After the success ofIris, she again drew positive reviews in the romantic comedy seriesMy Princess (2011); Kim played an ordinary college student who discovers that she is Korean royalty.[35][36] Later that year, she starred in her firstJapanese television dramaBoku to Star no 99 Nichi, where her character is aKorean Wave star who meets an ordinary Japanese bodyguard and he somehow makes her fall head over heels in love with him.[37] The Fuji TV drama, which aired in Japan from October to December 2011, raked in 9 to 10 percent of viewers' ratings on average, launching Kim as a household name in Japan.[38] Kim later encountered backlash from some Japanese netizens for allegedly promoting South Korea's claim in theLiancourt Rocks dispute during her 2005 trip to Switzerland as agoodwill ambassador.[39][40][41]
Kim returned to Korean television in 2015, playing an heiress who recovers from a coma with the help of a doctor-for-hire, the titularYong-pal.[45][46] The show garnered strong ratings and Kim won a Top Excellence Acting award from theKorea Drama Awards.[47]
Kim in February 2020
In 2020, Kim returned to television in the family drama seriesHi Bye, Mama!.[48][49]
In September 2012, Kim started dating South Korean singer-actorRain. They married on 19 January 2017.[52][53][54]
On 23 May 2017, Kim's agency, Lua Entertainment, announced that Kim was pregnant with their first child.[55] She gave birth to a daughter on 25 October 2017.[56][57][58] In February 2019, Kim announced she was pregnant again.[59] On 19 September 2019, she gave birth to the couple's second daughter.[60]
Kim is a practicingCatholic.[61] She was one of 30 Catholic celebrities who appeared in the 2014 music video for the digital single "Koinonia" to commemoratePope Francis's visit to South Korea, the first time in 19 years that an incumbent pope visited South Korea.[62][63][64] Her baptismal name is Verda.[65]
^Kim, Dong-hyun (1 September 2022).김태희, 現 소속사 스토리제이컴퍼니와 재계약..."오랜 신뢰 바탕 [Kim Tae-hee renewed her contract with Story J Company... "Based on Long Trust"] (in Korean). iNews24.Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved1 September 2022 – viaNaver.
^스토리제이컴퍼니.Story J Company. Retrieved16 February 2024.
^ab김태희 부친, 알고보니 '한국통운 김유문 회장' [Kim Tae Hee's Involvement with Youth Hope Fund Charity Revealed].Insight (in Korean). 30 October 2015. Archived fromthe original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved5 January 2016.
^abKim, Soo-j (20 May 2005).'말아톤' '파리의 연인' 백상예술대상 대상 (종합) [Marathon,Lovers in Paris are Baeksang Arts Awards Grand Prize winners].Star News (in Korean).Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved25 August 2015.
^Jeong Hee-yeon (3 May 2022).김태희 2억 기부, 뒤늦게 알려진 이유 [Kim Tae-hee's 200 million donation, the reason behind the belatedly known] (in Korean). Sports Donga.Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved3 May 2022 – viaNaver.
^Chae Tae-byong (22 July 2022).마음씨까지 톱스타"...김태희, 9억여원 상당 마스크 기부 [Top star even at heart"... Kim Tae-hee donates 900 million won worth of masks] (in Korean).Money Today [ko].Archived from the original on 22 July 2022. Retrieved22 July 2022 – viaNaver.
^Hong Se-young (20 December 2023).'웰컴투 삼달리' 측 "김태희 특별출연, '하바마' 작가와 인연" [공식] [Welcome to Samdalri's side "Kim Tae-hee's special appearance, connection with the writer of 'Hi Bye, Mama!'" [Official]].Sports Donga (in Korean).Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved20 December 2023 – viaNaver.
^Choi, Ji-yoon (20 August 2023).이제훈·김태희·비비 뜬다...제5회 뉴시스 한류엑스포 [Lee Je-hoon, Kim Tae-hee, and Bibi are on the rise... The 5th Newsis Hallyu Expo].Newsis (in Korean).Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved20 August 2023.
^Choi, Ji-yoon (20 August 2023).이제훈·김태희·비비 뜬다...제5회 뉴시스 한류엑스포 [Lee Je-hoon, Kim Tae-hee, and Bibi are on the rise... The 5th Newsis Hallyu Expo].Newsis (in Korean).Archived from the original on 19 August 2023. Retrieved20 August 2023 – viaNaver.
^Son, Yong-seok; Baek, Seul-gi (23 February 2009).김연아 1위 [Kim Yu-na 1st place].JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean).Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved24 May 2021 – via Joins. 타고난 몸과 끼로 돈·명예 한 손에 [In one hand, money and honor with a natural body and talent].JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 23 February 2009.Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved24 May 2021 – via Joins.
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