Daisy Rasammah Daniels, known popularly as Rukmani Devi was a Sri Lankan film actress and singer who was often acclaimed as "The Nightingale of Sri Lanka". She made it to the silver screen via the stage and had acted in close to 100 films at the time of her death. Having an equal passion for singing as well as a melodious voice, she was Sri Lanka's foremost female singer in the gramophone era. After her death, she was awarded the Sarasaviya 'Rana Thisara'- Life Time Achievement Award at the 1979 Sarasaviya Awards Festival.
Kala Suri Alhaj Kareem Mohideen Baig, popularly as Mohideen Baig, was a Sri Lankan musician. One of the most influential singers in Sinhala music, Baig is known particularly for his Buddhist devotional music. He is a Muslim who moved to Sri Lanka from Salem in Tamil Nadu, but of a Hyderabadi Muslim origin. He was considered a highly influential multicultural figure in the country's arts history. Baig is the first award winning citizen of Sri Lanka.
Kadawunu Poronduwa was the first film to be made in the Sinhala language; it is generally considered to have heralded the coming of Sinhala Cinema. The film was produced and filmed in India however, and was highly influenced by South Indian melodrama. It was first shown on January 21, 1947, at the Kingsley Cinema in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Kadawunu Poronduwa is a 1982 Sinhala drama film directed by Roy de Silva and produced by his wife Sumana Amarasinghe. It is a remake of the first Sinhala film Kadawunu Poronduwa. The film stars Vijaya Kumaratunga and Sumana Amarasinghe in lead roles whereas Eddie Jayamanne, Joe Abeywickrama and Ruby de Mel in suppiortive roles. It also marks the film debut of comedian Sunil Hettiarachchi as well as final appearance of Eddie Jayamanne in cinema.
Sujatha is a 1953 Sri Lankan romantic musical film based on the Bollywood film Bari Behen. It was the most successful Sri Lankan film made up to that time.
Dharmadasa Walpola (1927–1983) was the most prominent Sri Lankan male playback singer of the 1950s and 1960s. Walpola was an accomplished musician adapt at playing the flute, harmonium, violin and tabla.
Chitrananda Abeysekera (1930–1992) was a veteran broadcaster, poet, writer and an administrator. He joined Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, then Radio Ceylon as a radio announcer and retired as the Director of Sinhala Services in 1989. He was also the President of Aganuwara Tharuna Kavi Samajaya for more than a decade and initiated a lot of programs that benefited poets and the public alike. He restarted Kavi Suwanda, the poetry newspaper for poets. Chitrananda dedicated his whole life to Sinhala poetry and literature, not forgetting Radio Journalism.
Asoka is a 1955 Sri Lankan romantic musical based on the Bollywood film Sheesa.
Rita Philomina Ratnayake was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema. She became very popular in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s early Sinhala cinema particularly with the role 'Daisy Attanayake' in the blockbuster Kele Handa in 1953.
Mabel Josephine Blythe was an actress and singer in Sri Lankan cinema. One of the earliest pillars in Sinhala cinema, she acted in several popular films as well as worked as a playback singer.
Wanniaarachchige Don David Victor Jayamanne, MBE, popularly known as Eddie Jayamanne was a popular Sri Lankan comedian and actor of early Sri Lankan cinema.
Bernard Aloysius Wanniarachchi Jayamanne who was better known as B.A.W. Jayamanne was a Sri Lankan playwright, director, producer and actor. He played a major role in the making of the first Sinhala film Kadawunu Poronduwa in 1947; Jayamanne achieved a level of popularity as a director with movies starring Rukmani Devi and Eddie Jayamanne in the 1950s.
Kanupulage Ugo Singho, popularly known as Hugo Master or Hugo Fernando, was an actor and composer of Sri Lankan cinema. Debuting in the first Sinhalese film Kadawunu Poronduwa, Fernando had an over 50-year career also as a lyricist, assistant director and music director.
Vedha was an Indian composer who started working in Sinhala films during the early 1950s when they were being produced in Madras. Then he worked mainly in Tamil films. He was active in the field for about 25 years since 1952.
Meemanage Mary Magdalene Leticia Peiris [Sinhala]), popularly as Leticia Peiris, was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. One of the earliest pillars in Sri Lankan film history, Peiris had a career that spanned more than five decades. She is the last acting link of the Jayamanne lineage.
Kappithadegiri Herbert Mendis Seneviratne, popularly as Herbert M. Seneviratne, was a lyricist and actor in Sri Lankan cinema as well as a producer and a screenwriter.
Richard Herbert Seneviratne, popularly as Herby Seneviratne, was an actor and filmmaker in Sri Lankan cinema.
Sujatha Chandradasa Paramanathan, is a former beauty queen and actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. She is the first Sri Lankan actress turned politician, where she won the Yatawatta Gam Sabha council from Matale district in 1960.
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May 27, 1953
