Jung Ae Ri made her acting debut after she was chosen at the KBS talent audition in 1978. In 1980, she moved to another network, MBC. She rose to stardom in the 1985 drama Love and Truth, for which she won the Daesang (“Grand Prize”) at the MBC Drama Awards and Best TV Actress at the Baeksang Arts Awards. After she got married in 1985, Lee immigrated to the United States and temporarily retired from acting. She returned to Korea in 1988 and resumed her career. Lee has since had a prolific career and remains active on television.
In 1997, she received much acclaim for a local stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire, including the Best Actress award at the Seoul Theater Festival. Jung was again praised for the 2010s The Most Beautiful Goodbye in the World (also known as The Most Beautiful Farewell), a stage remake of Noh Hee Kyung’s 1996 TV series. One review called her performance “stirring” and “incendiary”, and that “it transcends the trite plot and elevates it above its television predecessor. Her portrayal resonates long after the curtains are drawn.”
In 2007, the Inter-Parliamentarians for Social Service honored Jung for giving aid as a sponsor to starving children in Korea and overseas. She has been particularly active in her volunteer work in orphanages since 1989.
After 20 years of marriage, Jung and her first husband divorced in 2005. They have one daughter, Ji Hyun. Jung remarried in 2011 to Ji Seung Ryong, a businessman who studied theology at Yonsei University; they divorced in 2014.
