Lee Soon-jae to be awarded a prize at film awards, not to mention the unexpected pleasure of winning at a foreign film festival. I have received the best entertainer award and achievement award before, but receiving this makes me happier and more thrilled." It was his first best actor award for a film in 34 years since the 1977 Baeksang Arts Awards. Lee returned to the stage in 2012 in "Father", a Korean adaptation of Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman". This was his third time to play the character Willy Loman. Lee said, "When I first played this role in
Fredric March whereupon director Elia Kazan cast Lee J. Cobb as Willy, and Arthur Kennedy as one of Willy's sons, Biff Loman, two men that the director had worked with in the film "Boomerang" (1947). March later regretted turning down the role and finally played Willy Loman in Columbia Pictures's 1951 film version of the play, directed by Laslo Benedek, receiving his fifth and final Oscar nomination as well as a Golden Globe Award. March also played one of two leads in "The Desperate Hours" (1955) with Humphrey Bogart. Bogart and Spencer Tracy had both insisted upon top billing and Tracy withdrew,