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At the age of 14, while attending Dongduk Girls' High School, Shin Il-seon entered the entertainment industry by joining an opera troupe at the recommendation of her older brother. In 1926, she appeared in Arirang directed by Na Un-gyu, playing the role of Yeong-hee, the younger sister of the main character Yeong-jin. With the enormous success of this film, she became a star in her own right. In 1927, while filming Goldfish on the banks of the Han River, her foot slipped and she fell into the water. Fortunately, her life was saved, but hers was one of the major accidents that occurred during filming during the colonial period. Shin Il-seon, disappeared from the film industry for a while after getting married. She returned to the entertainment industry around 1933, when she became the exclusive singer of the Polydol gramophone company. She also appeared in Crossroads of Youth. She returned to the film industry for the last time in 1936 with Arirang Part 3. Although she made a special appearance in 1957 in director Kim So-dong's Arirang, which celebrated the 20th anniversary of Na Un-gyu's 1926 film Arirang, she lived a life away from the film world. She lived a difficult life in her later years, due to chronic illness and financial problems, and died on June 3, 1990.