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Biography |
Sung Hi Lee was born April 1, 1970, in Seoul, South Korea.
She spent a large part of her childhood moving around from
city to city, even before the start of her modeling career.
Due to her father's job, Sung Hi and her family were forced
to move around from Houston, Dallas, D.C., and Chicago. More
of a tomboy than a little princess, and more of a school
nerd than homecoming queen, Sung Hi was a very serious
student and didn't have much of a social life, also due to
the constant change of high schools.
Although Sung Hi had originally planned to study medicine
with the goal of working in sports medicine, fate had
another ambition for her altogether, in different instances.
Her first brush with luck occurred in Dallas, when she went
to a nightclub that she frequented regularly. The nightclub
was holding a fashion show, but since they didn't like the
models that the agency had picked out for them, they asked
Sung Hi to participate.
She caught the attention of one of the agents, who wanted to
work with the Asian beauty. While a full scholarship student
at Ohio State University, Sung Hi had visited a friend of
hers in Washington D.C.
Her friend's friend was a Play.boy scout and photographer,
who insisted on taking Sung Hi's picture, and asked if she
was interested in working for the magazine. For the next few
months, the photographer asked Sung Hi's friend if she had
changed her mind as she refused at first; she eventually
gave in and posed for the bunny mag.
After her Play.boy stint, she worked as a Hawaiian Tropic
model. When she went to Montreal to promote the brand, she
was chosen by a Play.boy executive (who was also a judge) to
be one of the 15 Hawaiian Tropic girls for a Hawaiian Tropic
special by the magazine.
Still a university student, Sung Hi decided that she wanted
to temporarily put off her studies and pursue a full-time
acting career in New York City. But most aspiring actresses
in the Big Apple are also models, which was a problem for
the 5'4" Sung Hi. She therefore headed to L.A. to try her
hand at acting and modeling.
While in L.A., she ran into a stylist at an audition, who
happened to be the West Coast director for Play.boy. Three's
a charm, and Sung Hi posed for the magazine again, forming
the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
From 1993 to 1998, Sung Hi appeared in over 12 of Play.boy's
Book of Lingerie (she was the first Asian model to appear on
the cover solo, in 1996) and in Play.boy Specials such as
Sexy Swimsuits, Wet & Wild, Girls of Summer, Cover Girls,
Women of Color, and Supermodels. She also graced the covers
of the bunny mag's German, Taiwan and French editions.
In other magazine news, Sung Hi has appeared on the covers
of Working Woman Korea in 1997, KOREAM 10th Anniversary
issue in 2000, and has appeared in magazines like Sport
(1996) and Yolk Magazine (1998).
As for calendars, Sung Hi has posed for the Pacific USA
calendar in 1996 Black Pearl East Meets West calendar in
1997, 1998 and 2000, as well as the Black Pearl Sung Hi Lee
calendar in 1997 and 1998.
She traveled to L.A. for more acting roles, and those she
received: Sung Hi had a recurring role on Mortal Kombat in
1999, and made guest appearances on shows like Black
Scorpion, Queen of Swords, V.I.P., and Nikki, Nikki Cox's
hit show.
Sung Hi has also been seen on TV, starring in several
television commercials for products such as Mountain Dew,
Maxwell House Coffee, Brut, Kopyong Fashion Co., and Acer
Computers. She has appeared in print ads for Sunkist Orange
Juice, New Core Department Store, Miller Beer, Hilton
hotels, Chrysler Plymouth, and Camel cigarettes. You may
also remember her from Coolio's Too Hot video, in 1996.
The aspiring actress can also add film credits to her
resumé, with roles in 1994's Midnight Blue; the 1996
made-for-TV movie, Weapons of Mass Distraction; 1998's A
Night On the Water and Error in Judgment; the more popular
Nurse Betty in 2000; and Chain of Command and That Summer in
LA, that same year.
Although she's been a popular cover and centerfold for one
of the most prestigious magazines (so that she can someday
prove to her grandchildren that she was a full-out hottie in
her day), and has a blossoming acting career on the horizon,
Sung Hi Lee hopes to return to her original ambition of
sports medicine. That may be in a long while. |
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