Hettiarachchige Emanuel Aloysius Rodrigo (1933–17 March 1997), better known as Prem Jayanth, was an actor in

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 cinema as well as a producer and art director. Considered as the first male superstar in Sinhala cinema, Jayanth rose to prominence with starring roles in the popular films Sujatha (1953) and ''

Seda Sulang Seda Sulang ( si, සැඩසුළං), is a 1955 Sri Lankan romantic musical film directed and produced by Thambiraja Somasekaran for Ceylon Films Limited. The film starring Florida Jayalath and Prem Jayanth in lead roles whereas Dommie Jayawa ...

'' (1955).

Personal life

Jayanth was born in Layards Broadway, Grandpass and attended Joseph’s College, Grandpass and

St. Lucia's College Colombo 13 St. Lucia's College (commonly known as St. Lucia's or Lucia's) is a Roman Catholic school located in Kotahena area of Colombo, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இல� ...

. Jayanth married actress Nanda Leelanayake sometime in the 1960s and had seven children, two boys - Jagath and Janith - and five girls - Sunila, Sandhya, Anusha, Nirma and Shiroma. His son, Jagath Rohan appeared in few film including 1980 film ''Sabeetha''. Jayanth died on 17 March 1997 at the age of 64. Nanda died on 26 September 2014 at the age of 84.

Cinema career

He entered the school stage. In 1932, he first joined the public stage through the stage drama ''Carnival'' produced by A. D. J. Mathupala. Jayanth began his film career with a small role in 1952 film ''Unmathu Wishwasaya'' directed by

B. A. W. Jayamanne Bernard Aloysius Wanniarachchi Jayamanne who was better known as B.A.W. Jayamanne (20 May 1908 – 16 February 1965: as බී.ඒ.ඩබ්ලිව්. ජයමාන්න) was a Sri Lankan playwright, director, producer and actor. He playe ...

. His breakthrough came when he was cast in the lead male role on 1953 film ''Sujatha'' opposite

Florida Jayalath Jayathilake Arachchige Florida Cooray (born 1936 – died 2007 as ෆ්ලොරිඩා ජයලත්) inhala, popularly as Florida Jayalath, was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema. Apart from acting, Florida also worked as a filmmaker, chor ...

. The film became a big hit and established Jayanth and Jayalath as major stars. They reappeared together in the 1955 film ''Seda Sulang'' which was also popular featuring the only songs sung by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

for a Sri Lankan film. Jayanth had a major role in ''Warada Kageda'' in 1953. Jayanth subsequently acted in ''Awishwasaya'', ''Purusha Rathnaya'' (1959) and ''Sithaka Mahima'' (1964) before reuniting with Jaylath in her directorial effort ''Sweep Ticket'' (1965). In 1967 he portrayed a role in ''Sarana'' directed by Ashoka David. He quit from acting after the film ''Sarana''. Jayanth started his company Seven Arts around 1972 and produced such films as ''Sahanaya'' (1972), ''Hondata Hondai'' (1973), ''Kawda Raja'' (1976), ''Sabeetha'' (1980), ''Senasuma'' (1981) and ''Mala Giravi'' (1984). He was also active as a designer of film cutouts and was the art director of ''Wahal Doopatha'' (1968) and ''Deviyani Oba Kohida'' (1977).

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayanth, Prem 1933 births 1997 deaths Sri Lankan male film actors Sinhalese male actors 20th-century Sri Lankan male actors