Kalukapuge Don David (born 1 September 1913 – died 10 September 1987 as ඩේවිඩ් ධර්මකීර්ති), popularly known as David Dharmakeerthi was an actor

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n early Sri Lankan cinema.

Personal life

He was born on 1 September 1913 in Kotigamgoda village, Padukka. His father Odiris Appuhami was a farmer. He started school at village school and then from Wonakal College, Padukka and finally to the English English School in Homagama. After school, Dharmakeerthi first joined the Department of Agriculture at Alston Place, Colombo as an overseer. Dharmakeerthi was married to Nandawathi Jayasuriya. The couple has 5 sons and 3 daughters. He died on 10 September 1987 at the age of 74.

Cinema career

In school times, he performed in a drama based on a novel "Rohini" written by

Martin Wickremasinghe Lama Hewage Don Martin Wickramasinghe, (commonly known as Martin Wickramasinghe) ( si, මාර්ටින් වික්‍රමසිංහ) (29 May 1890 – 23 July 1976) was a Sri Lankan journalist and author. His books have been tran ...

. There was a superintendent named Jasinghe in the Department of Agriculture where David worked. He saw Dharmakeerthi's acting skills in the dramas of the peasant army, who also produced the background music and art direction. Raja Tilakaratne, who was a Lake House Dinamina Journalist, is a relative of the superintendent Jasinghe. Jasinghe opened the cinema door to Dharmakeerthi. His first cinema acting came through 1953 film ''Sujatha'' directed by

T. R. Sundaram Tiruchengodu Ramalingam Sundaram Mudaliar (16 July 1907 – 30 August 1963) was an Indian actor, director, and producer. He was the founder of the Salem-based film production company Modern Theatres. Early life Sundaram was born in 1907 fro ...

. During his visit to the studio in India to film ''Sujatha'', his father and friend T. Somasekaran both died. He also worked as a film assistant director, dialogue writer and a story writer in 1958 film ''Salli Malli Salli''. In this film he emerged as a character actor. In 1981, he acted in the film ''Aradhana'' as a merciful father. He won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the 1982 Sarasaviya Awards. for that acting. This was the only award he received in 35 years of film career. He acted with his son Sarath Dharmakeerthi in the 1984 film ''Parasathuro''. His final cinema appearance came through 1988 film ''Sagara Jalaya Madi Handuwa Oba Sanda'' directed by

Sumitra Peries Kala Keerthi Sumitra Peries (born 24 March 1934) is the first Sri Lankan female filmmaker and is known by all as the "Poetess of Sinhala Cinema". She also held the post of Sri Lanka's ambassador to France, Spain and the United Nations in the ...

Political career

His favorite political character was

Philip Gunawardena Don Philip Rupasinghe Gunawardena (11 January 1901 – 26 March 1972) was a Sri Lankan Marxist politician and leftist. A founder of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, the first political party in Ceylon which was known for having introduced Trotskyi ...

. Dharmakeerthi contested for the Horana seat from the

Mahajana Eksath Peramuna The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front) is a political party in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), for ...

in the 1960 general election. However, he was placed third in the seat and received only 1555 votes.

Filmography

References

External links

හොරණ ඉන්ද්‍රදාසට මත ගැටුම් වැඩිවෙයි!

හින්දි චිත්‍රපටයක් කොපිකර ලංකාවේ නැගලා ගිය ‘සුජාතා’

අපේ කලා ලෝකයෙන් අප්‍රකට කතා

කිසිම චිත්‍රපටයක කොටස් කපන්නේ නෑ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dharmakeerthi, David 1913 births 1987 deaths Sri Lankan male film actors Sinhalese male actors Sinhalese politicians