Lee Mi-sook debuted in film at the age of twenty in Thoughtless Momo in 1979. By the mid-1980s she had become one of the best-known actresses of her era. Together with Lee Bo-hee and Won Mi-kyung, they dominated the screen and were referred to as the "Troika of the 1980s." Her most famous films from this era include Bae Chang-ho's Whale Hunting and The Winter That Year Was Warm, Lee Doo-yong's Mulberry and Eunuch, and Kwak Ji-kyoon's Wanderer in Winter. Her early career lasted until the film Love Triangle in 1987, and then she retired from the cinema after getting married.
