Pitiyage Mervyn Piyadasa Jayatunga ( si, මර්වින් ජයතුංග; 9 March 1940 – 1 November 1993), popularly known as Mervyn Jayathunga, was an

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

in Sri Lankan cinema and stage drama. He was a highly versatile actor, who popularized

villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

ous roles. Jayathunga acted in several critically acclaimed films, such as ''Raktha'' and ''Pasamithuro''.

Personal life

Jayathunga was born on 9 March 1940 in

Moratuwa Moratuwa ( si, මොරටුව, ta, மொறட்டுவை) is a large suburb of Colombo, on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka, near Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. It is situated on the Galle–Colombo (Galle road) main highway, south o ...

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 ...

(near Colombo), as the eldest of nine siblings. His father, James Jayathunga, was a furniture maker. His mother was Merlin Florida Fernando. He had four brothers—Sumanadasa, Karunadasa, Jinadasa, Nimaladasa—and four sisters—Malani Chandrawathi, Padma Kusumawathi, Ashoka Induwathi, and Bhadra Kanthi. He started his education at Sri Chandrasekara Maha Vidyalaya, Horethuduwa. At grade 4, he went to Moratu Maha Vidyalaya, where he started studying drama under the guidance of the school principal. He was also a good athlete and a good

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

ist. After finishing school, he got a job at Kotuwa Cargo Corporation. Then he worked as a train driver at the Department of Railways. After some years, he started to work as a

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

designer in Department of Survey. He was trained in cartography in Hyderabad, India. He learned martial arts from karate master D.A. Welgama. He was married to Nalini Hemalatha. She completed her education from Presbyterian Girls' School, Mount Lavinia. The couple had one daughter, Priyadashani Hemali, and one son, Shammie Prabath. Jayathunga's grandson, Ryan Jayathunga, is also an actor.

Acting career

Initially, Jayathunga was part of an art circle of government service officers. In 1961, he acted in a minor role for the drama ''Sumudu Bharya''. He then joined with drama maestro Henry Jayasena and played in his stage dramas such as ''Hunuwataye Kathawa'', ''Diriya Mawa'', and ''Apata Puthe Magak Nathe''. Under Jayasena's guidance, he acted as a hunter in the television film ''Elephant Boy''. Jayathunga, who was in charge of Jayasena's stage design, was allowed to go to East Germany to study stage drama. After returning to Sri Lanka, he acted in ''Gamanak Saha Minihek'', ''Ekadipathi'', ''Sthree'', ''Ran Salakuna'', and ''Kadadasikoti''. He was the third ''Wedi King'' of the drama ''Maname'' by

Ediriweera Sarachchandra Dr. Veditantirige Eustace Reginold de Silva (later became Veditantirige Ediriweera Ranjitha Sarachchandra) (3 June 1914 – 16 August 1996; Sinhala: මහාචාර්ය එදිරිවීර සරච්චන්ද්‍ර), popularly ...

Filmography

Following his stage drama career, Jayathunga was introduced to the

silver screen A silver screen, also known as a silver lenticular screen, is a type of projection screen that was popular in the early years of the motion picture industry and passed into popular usage as a metonym for the cinema industry. The term silver scree ...

by Wehalle Piyathilaka. His first film acting role was as a music master in ''Vismaya'' by Charles Perera. A turning point in his career was the 1977 film ''Chandi Putha'', which established him as a character artist. In 1992, he starred in 17 films, a record at the time in Sri Lankan cinema. On the day he died, he acted in the English television film ''Fellow Me''. In total, Jayathunga acted in more than 200 films across many genres. * No. denotes the Number of Sri Lankan film in the Sri Lankan cinema.

Awards

Presidential Awards

, - , , 1983 , , , ''Pasamithuro'' , , Merit award , ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayathunga, Mervyn Sri Lankan male film actors 1940 births 1993 deaths