| Kim Heechul | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Kim Hee-chul |
| Born | July 10, 1983 Hoengseong, Gangwon, South Korea |
| Genres | Pop, dance, trot |
| Occupations | Singer, actor, television host, radio host, dancer, MC |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | SM Entertainment |
| Associated acts | SM Town, Super Junior, Super Junior-T, M&D |
| Kim Heechul | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 김희철 |
| Hanja | 金希澈 |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Huicheol |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Hŭich'ŏl |
Kim Hee-chul (born July 10, 1983), often known simply as Heechul, is a South Korean singer, actor, and presenter. He is best known as a member of the K-pop boy band Super Junior and its subgroup, Super Junior-T.
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Kim was discovered at Starlight Casting System October 2002 where he auditioned with his friends. Initially, Kim was placed in a four-member project group called, "Four Seasons". This group included members Jaejoong, Yunho, and Kangin. The prospective group never debuted as Jaejoong and Yunho joined boy band TVXQ, which debuted in December 2003. Kim and Kangin were then placed in Super Junior along with ten other trainees under the same company. This group debuted two years later on November 6, 2005 under the name Super Junior 05, the first generation of Super Junior. The initial plan for this group was to continuously cycle members in and then phase them into other projects.
Other activities before his debut include modeling, acting, and VJing. He made his first appearance on TV starring in the teen drama “Banolim 2”. Like bandmate Kibum, Kim made his first television appearance as an actor before the debut of Super Junior. He starred in the 2005 teen drama, Sharp 2, in which he acted alongside Kibum. Not long afterwards, Kim appeared in an episode of Loveholic as a chef trainee.
On November 6, 2005, Kim officially debuted as part of Super Junior 05 on SBS' Inkigayo, performing the group's first single “TWINS (Knock Out)”. The group was supposed to comprise the first generation of Super Junior. In early 2006, SM Entertainment was beginning to recruit new members for the next Super Junior generation, Super Junior 06, where Kim would still be an undergraduate member. However, plans changed. The company decided to add a thirteenth member, Kyuhyun, and declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. The group dropped the suffix “05″ and became officially credited as Super Junior.
The re-polished group hit it big after it released the first CD single “U” the following summer in 2006. "U" became Super Junior’s most successful single in the music charts until the release of “Sorry, Sorry” in March 2009. However, setbacks occurred for the promotions of “U” in the later half of the year when Kim suffered a major injury from a car accident that occurred on August 10, 2006.
After the debut of Super Junior, he teamed with Kibum again to star in the sixth season of Nonstop, alternatively known as Rainbow Romance. In 2006, he starred as the supporting character Gong Min in Bad Family. In 2007, he starred in the popular family drama Golden Bride as Kim Young-soo. Kim also appeared on variety shows such as Vitamin, Sponge, Xman and Love Letter.
He hosted his own radio show, SBS Power FM Youngstreet along with Park Heebon, but the program ended in mid-2006.
In 2007, Kim became part of a Super Junior sub-group, Super Junior-T, which debuted on February 23, 2007 with the Trot "Teuroteu" single "Rokuko!!!" (65 로꾸거; [RoKuGo (backwards) spelled backwards]). Kim participated in Super Junior's second album Don't Don, the band's “Super Show” tour, and filmed Super Junior's first movie Attack on the Pin-Up Boys.
Kim began hosting before his music debut. He was a regular MC for the cable music show Show! Music Tank. He was also a substitute MC for Andy of Shinhwa on SBS Inki Gayo on numerous occasions. Heechul also became a permanent host for SBS Inki Gayo with Korean actor Jang Geun Suk on February 25, 2007.
In 2008, he was active in Super Junior's activities: the visit to Japan, their second photobook Boys at City Season 2 (shot in Tokyo) and the Super Show Encore concert. From September 9 to November 9, 2008, Kim and Kangin starred in the Korean version of the musical Xanadu, sharing the lead role of Sonny. Auditions and casting picks were done via a reality television (To Be Kangin and Heechul), which also served to promote the musical.[1]
In 2009, Super Junior released their third album Sorry, Sorry, on March 13. Their title song "Sorry Sorry" was peaked at number one on all major charts. After the first week of sales, the album topped the Hanteo Chart, with 30,000 copies sold on its first day of release. As well as this, the song achieved its first #1 on KBS's Music Bank on March 27, two weeks after their comeback stage. The song continued to prove it's popularity, winning a total of five #1's on Music Bank and a triple crown on SBS's Inkigayo.
The group then released a follow up repackage of their third album called It's You, which was released on May 11. The comeback performance was made on May 17 on SBS's Inkigayo, and on the following week made performances on KBS's Music Bank, where they won their first K-Chart for the song on May 22. The promotions for the song was cut short due to the group's second live concert tour.
Kim was also on a TV show called Joahseo or Good Daddy, where he and three other celebrities, including Lee HongKi from FT Island, learned to be good fathers by caring for a "daughter". After Good Daddy show, he become close friend with Lee HongKi and their close relationship enable them to be chosen in Save Energy Campaign in the middle of 2009. Heechul was also in “Band of Brothers” with Super Junior's Kangin, and Jungmo and Jay from “The TRAX”. In the show, the band paid tribute to famous and different groups during their showcase at the end of the program.
After the 55-episode drama Loving You Ten Million Times ended in early 2010, he returned to SBS radio as a DJ to host his own radio program, "HeeChul's Young Street." The show, which started airing on 29 March 2010, is broadcast by Power FM 107.7 MHz from 8:00 to 10:00 pm (Korea Time). The program is his first comeback as a DJ in four years. He has however, left the program in mid-2011. In May 2010, he was announced as a regular cast member on Family Outing 2, however the show was cancalled two months later due to low ratings.
On May 13, 2010, Super Junior released their fourth album Bonamana and made a comeback stage on KBS Music Bank on the 14th. The album once again proved the group's popularity, selling over 36,000 copies on its first day of release - more than that of their third album. On June 28, 2010, Super Junior released their repackaged album with three new tracks - "No Other", "All My Heart", "A Short Journey" - and the remixed version of "Shake It Up!".
On October 9 2010, he created a personal Facebook, which collected 5,000 friend requests within 5 minutes. He was also a worldwide trending topic on Twitter for four days (from 9 Oct 2010 to 12 Oct 2010).[2]
Kim formed a project group, M&D, with label mate, Kim Jungmo of TRAX in 2011. M&D stands for "midnight and dawn", and also the hometowns of Jungmo and Heechul, "Miari and Dangae-dong". On June 23, 2011, the music video of their title track, 'Close Ur Mouth' was released. Heechul wrote the lyrics while Jungmo wrote and played all the instruments for the song. Heechul also directed the music video. M&D performed their first stage at Mnet’s summer awards ceremony, "20’s Choice" on July 7, 2011.
He was part of a four member cast for the Radio Star section of Golden Fishery on MBC and Secret of Saturday Freedom on KBS.
On 1 September 2011, Kim enlisted for his mandatory military service. He is serving as a public service worker for 23 months, after undergoing four weeks of basic training at the Nonsan military camp in Chungcheongnam-do Province. [3][4]
On August 10, 2006, Heechul was involved in a car accident while heading back to Seoul from Mokpo after attending the funeral of fellow Super Junior member Donghae’s father. The tires malfunctioned while his car attempted to switch lanes. Heechul fractured his left leg in five places, including his femur, knee, and ankle, requiring him to be in surgery for six hours. He also sustained other injuries, including a tear in his tongue which required stitches.
Heechul was advised to stop all activities for a period of twelve weeks. He was released from the hospital on September 13, 2006 but he continued to receive out-patient care. He returned to the hospital to have a second surgery to remove some of the iron rods in his leg on October 10 and briefly returned to work in late October to film the final three episodes of an MBC youth sitcom while still in a cast and on a wheelchair. He made his comeback on November 25 of the same year during the Mnet KM Music Festival (MKMF) Awards but it was only in late December that Heechul officially returned to individual activities such as variety show appearances and hosting appearances.
In 2007, Heechul started to perform regularly despite still having a few rods that the doctors had attached to his leg. In late April and May 2007, he had recovered enough to be able to take part in Super Junior's strenuous dance routines. The remaining rods in his leg were removed in 2008.
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Attack on the Pin-Up Boys | Kim Hee-chul, the Ultra Junior president | Supporting role, ensemble cast |
| 2010 | Super Show 3 3D | Himself | 3-D concert film |
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Sharp 2 | Baek Jin-woo | KBS | Supporting role |
| 2005 | Loveholic | Young chef | KBS | Cameo appearance |
| 2006 | Mystery 6 | Himself | Mnet | Supporting role |
| 2006 | Bad Family | Gong Min | SBS | Supporting role |
| 2005–07 | Rainbow Romance | Heechul | MBC | Leading role |
| 2007–08 | Golden Bride | Kim Young-soo | SBS | Supporting role |
| 2009 | TaeHee HyeGyo JiHyun | Himself | MBC | Cameo appearance |
| 2009–10 | I Love You Ten Million Times | Lee Chul | SBS | Supporting role |
| 2010 | I am Legend | Himself | SBS | Cameo appearance |
| 2011 | Youth Melody | Shen Taiyi | CCTV | Supporting role |
| Year | Award | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Break Mnet 20's Choice Awards | |||
| 2007 | Best Pretty Boy | Heechul | Won |
| MBC Entertainment Awards[5] | |||
| 2011 | Rookie Award (Show/Entertainment) | Heechul: Radio Star | Won |
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