Nji Siti Salmah (born 6 June 1926) is an Indonesian actress and singer whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1970s. Her varied career spanned film, stage, and radio. She was the part of

Classical Indonesian Cinema Classical Indonesian cinema is a term used in film criticism to describe both a narrative and visual style of Indonesian filmmaking which first developed in the 1926 to 1965. History 1926–1945: Colonial era and emergence of the classical sty ...

Early life

Nji Siti Salmah was born on 6 June 1926 in Buitenzorg,

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, as the youngest of five children from a Sundanese farmer family, and was raised in Tjiandjoer.

Personal life

Salmah was married to Eddy Jono, an employee of PELNI, in 1946, and has one child. The couple separated in November 1954. In March 1955, Salmah resided in

Kebon Kosong, Kemayoran Kebon Kosong is an administrative village in the Kemayoran district of Indonesia. It has a postal code of 10630. See also * List of administrative villages of Jakarta {{unreferenced, date=March 2017 This is a list of administrative villages of ...

, while Jono resided in Jatinegara.

Career

Salmah started her career by joining the Dendang troupe during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies. She later joined the Djantung Hati troupe. She joined the Miss Noni Beng Hwat Naut troupe as a singer and later became a friend with

S. Waldy Waldemar Caerel Hunter (15 December 1919 – 1968), best known by his stage name S. Waldy, was an Indonesian stage and film actor. Biography Waldy was born in Blitar, in Java, on 15 December 1919 and was one of fourteen children born to J. ...

, who introduced her to Tan & Wong studio. After the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during Aftermath of WWII, postw ...

ended in 1949, Salmah was contracted by Tan & Wong with the Warnasari troupe. She made her film debut with ''Tirtonadi'' (1950), followed by ''Kembang Katjang'' (1950) and ''Nusa Kambangan'' (1950). She was the most productive actress in Tan & Wong's films from 1951 until 1952, where she appeared in seven films: ''Kusuma Hati'' (1951), ''Siti Aminah'' (1951), ''Fadjar Menjingsing'' (1951), ''Ternoda'' (1952), ''Chandra Dewi'' (1952), ''Maskawin'' (1952) and ''Tiga Benda Adjaib'' (1952). Most of her films were directed by Henry L. Duarte, an American director who established the Warnasari troupe. In 1953, she was dismissed by Tan & Wong and moved to Golden Arrow. She starred in six films for Golden Arrow studio: ''Pangeran Hamid'' (1953), ''Empat Sekawan'' (1953), ''Burung Bitjara'' (1953), ''Harimau dan Merpati'' (1953), ''Tiga Saudari (1953)'' and ''Kelenting Kuning'' (1954). During the production of ''Perobahan'' (1955), she replaced Nurnaningsih who was sacked because of absence. Salmah later took a 19-year break, returning to the industry in Arizal and Wisjnu Mouradhy's directed ''Gara-gara'' (1973). After she returned to industry, she was no longer offered leading roles, and instead took supporting roles in three more films in the 1970s (''Anak yang Menderita'' (1974), ''Rintihan Gadis Buta'' (1976) and ''Duel Maut'' (1977)) before finally leaving the industry.

Filmography

References

Works cited

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External links

{{IMDB name, 3203339 1926 births Possibly living people 20th-century Indonesian actresses 20th-century Indonesian women singers 20th-century Dutch East Indies people Actresses from the Dutch East Indies Indonesian film actresses