‘Squid Game’ actress Lee Joo-Sil dies of cancer at age 81

“Squid Game” actress Lee Joo-sil has died at age 81.

Lee passed away Sunday at her family home in Uijeongbu, South Korea, according to Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo.

She was diagnosed with stomach cancer in Nov. 2024, the paper said.

Lee was previously diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in her fifties and was given less than one year to live, but she received the all-clear from doctors 13 years later.

Her funeral will be held at Shinchon Severance Hospital on Feb. 5.

Lee starred in “Squid Game” as Park Mal-soon, the mother of police detective Hwang Jun-ho, and the stepmother of The Front Man, Hwang In-ho.

She appeared in the first two episodes of Season 2, according to her IMDb.

In the Netflix show’s second season, Hwang Jun-ho joins forces with a fisherman to find the island where his stepbrother is running the games.

It’s unclear if Lee will be in the third and final season, which filmed before her death and will premiere on Netflix in June 2025.

Fans of the hit show reacted to Lee’s death on social media.

“Nooo I loved her :(,” one fan wrote on X.

“May she rest in peace,” another fan said.

A third X user wrote, “OH MY GOD NOOOOO.”

Lee started acting in 1964 with roles in stage productions and as a voice actor.

One of her most famous movie roles was in the 2016 zombie thriller “Train to Busan,” where she played the grandmother of protagonist Seok-woo.

She also appeared in Korean drama shows including “The Uncanny Counter,” “Country Diaries,” “It’s Beautiful Now” and “The Witch’s Diner.”

Netflix and “Squid Game” have yet to release a statement about Lee’s death.

Season 2 of the show premiered in Dec. 2024 and follows Lee Jung-Jae’s Seong G-un, aka Player 456, who returns to the games after winning 45.6 billion in South Korean won to put an end to them once and for all.

According to Nielsen, the show was the most-viewed series in a single week in 2024 with 4.9 billion minutes between Dec. 23 and Dec. 29, Variety reported.

“Squid Game” Season 2 also became the third most-watched TV season on Netflix, behind only “Squid Game” Season 1 and “Wednesday.”