Merengnnage Edward Tennyson Cooray (සිංහල:
මෙරෙඤඤගේ එඩ්වඩ් ටෙනිසන් කුරේ) (30 April 1952 – 28 September 2020) 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 ...
and
comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing
Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
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 and theater. One of the most popular comedians ever in Sinhala cinema with a career spanned for more than three decades, Cooray was best known for comedy roles in several blockbuster film franchises such as ''Re Daniel Dawal Migel'', ''Cheriyo'', ''Peralikarayo'', ''Wada Bari Tarzan'' as well as ''Somy Boys''. In addition to acting, he also worked as a director and scriptwriter, singer, lyrics writer.
Personal life
He was born on 30 April 1952 in Weligama,
Matara as the second of the family to a Catholic father and Buddhist mother. His father Merengnnage Edgar Stanley Arthur Cooray, who worked at Gamini Bus Company, learned to be a pastor for some time and also was a great reader of good English literature.
His mother, Herath Mudiyanselage Ran Menika was a housewife. He studied at Kesebewa Junior School for primary education and then attended Willorawatta Protestant Catholic Mixed School also known as Moratuwa Methodist College. He only graduated Ordinary Level examination. He had one elder sister and a younger brother. When he was about ten years old, they used to go to the temple with mother on Poya day as well as to church on Sundays.
Tennyson, who had previously attended an automotive course, later worked as a ship mechanic.
He was married to Malsiri Eranjani and the couple had one daughter, Madhumihiri, who is a teacher at Bishop’s College.
Madhumihiri is married to Chathuranga Fernando, a businessman. They have one son, Chandru Mithushka and one daughter, Mindri.
On 28 September 2020, Cooray died at the
National Hospital in Colombo at the age of 68 due to sudden heart attack. Remains were laid at Tennyson's House, 79/1, Willorawatta, Moratuwa for two days. The body was taken to the Rawathawatte Methodist Church at 4 pm and the final rites was performed at the cemetery on 1 October 2020.
Career
At adolescent age, he performed at church festivals for about eight years with his friend Percy. Then he went to several drama interviews to take an opportunity to act in movies, but could not get a chance due to his appearance. Totally disappointed, one day his father told him that 'if you want to act, you can do a play that suits you'. Then he made a Vesak drama called ''Apaaye Thappara 1800''.
The play was intended to make people afraid to sin. He also administered the sound. It was shown about 35 times outside the Moratuwa area. (It was directed by Dinesh Priyasad in the 1990s as a film starring Gamini Fonseka in the lead role and the dialogues and screenplay by Tennyson). In 1971, he made a short film called "Hada Aedi Siththam". There he met Giwantha Arthasad and Bermin Lyle Fernando.
He began his career as a stage performer in a passion play staged at Moratumulla Church directed by Rev. Theodore H Perera. He further developed his drama skills at the Wesley Gulld and the Bible School of the Willorawatte Church. He has produced Christian Dramas for the NCC Radio.
His maiden cinema acting came through ''Jeewanthi'' directed by
Hemasiri Sellapperuma
Hemasiri Sellapperuma (born 25 October: si, හේමසිරි සෙල්ලප්පෙරුම), is a Sri Lankan screenplay writer, editor and filmmaker in Cinema of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan cinema. He is a prolific director who directed th ...
. His career completely changed when he met Giwantha Arthasad's younger brother, Dinesh Priyasad. The two did a little experiment together where they made a short film called "Action".
Cooray debuted in Sinhala cinema as a screenwriter in Dinesh Priyasad's directorial debut ''Nommara Ekai''. He wrote the story and screenplay, as well as acting in the film. Producing the low budget ''Nommara Ekai'', it became a big hit. Later Dinesh joined a new project of Thilak Athapaththu, after the success of ''Nommara Ekai''. Dinesh thought that Cooray knew what the people liked or disliked, and he turned to Cooray to write a new film script. He started to write a script, thinking like a main actor in film. He asked for a chance to play the main character. Athapaththu refused, because Cooray was a newcomer in the industry. and he wasn't ready to take a risk. Anyhow, he got a chance to perform minor role in film.
Then Tennyson wrote the plot of blockbuster hit ''Peralikarayo'' which was not only the most popular film of 1986, but also the highest grossing film of that year.
During ''Peralikarayo'', Tennyson and Priyasad met
Vijaya Kumaratunga
Kovilage Anton Vijaya Kumaranatunga ( si, කොවිලගේ ඇන්ටන් විජය කුමාරණතුංග; ta, விஜய_குமாரணதுங்க; 9 October 1945 – 16 February 1988), popularly known as Vijaya ...
. Later, they involved in Kumaratunga's first film production ''Waradata Danduwama''. Later he got a chance to be the script writer for Priyasad's blockbuster hit ''Demodara Palama'', where he played the role 'Vali Cooray' opposite to
Gamini Fonseka
Kala Keerthi Sembuge Gamini Shelton Fonseka () (21 March 1936 - 30 September 2004 as :si:ගාමිණී ෆොන්සේකා, ගාමිණී ෆොන්සේකා), was a Cinema of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan film actor, film director ...
. Priyasad's film ''Hithata Dukak Nathi Miniha'' was a film that pulls aside the acting style of Tenny where his ability for those adventurous scenes is highlighted in the film. He performed well not only in cinema but also on stage with the popular stage plays ''Man The Man'', ''Captain Cool'', ''Sivamma Dhanapala'' and ''I am Sri Lanka''. In each of these stage plays, he discusses the issues and problems of the society in a humorous manner, tries to make the audience laugh as well as try to draw the audience's attention to the issues of the country.
He produced ''Akikaru Puthraya'', the first Christian 16 mm Sinhala film and then he produced three stage dramas;
''Kurulla'', ''Man The Man'' and ''I am Sri Lanka''. He has also appeared in comedy films with fellow actor
Bandu Samarasinghe on numerous occasions, including ''
Re Daniel Dawal Migel
''Re Daniel Dawal Migel'' ( si, රෑ දනියෙල් දවල් මිගෙල්, italic=yes) is a 1998 Sri Lankan Sinhala comedy, action film directed by Roy de Silva and produced by Soma Edirisinghe for E.A.P Films. It is the first ...
'', ''
Cheriyo'', ''
Kolompoor
''Kolompoor'' ( si, කොළොම්පූර්) is a 1999 Sri Lankan Sinhala comedy, family film directed by Dinesh Priyasad and produced by Lalindra Wijewickrama for Lalindra Films. It stars comic duo Bandu Samarasinghe, and Tennyson Coor ...
'', ''
Parliament Jokes
''Parliament Jokes'' ( si, පාර්ලිමන්ට් ජෝක්ස්, italic=yes) is a 2002 Sri Lankan Sinhala comedy, action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake and produced by Lal Kaluarachchi for Lak films. It stars Ranjan Ramanayak ...
'', and ''
Somy Boys''.
All the films were blockbuster hits where as
Bandu-Tenny duo made a comedy cinema wave during 1990s and early new millennium.
Around 2010, the Sarasaviya newspaper published a series of weekly Q&A articles with Tennyson under the title 'Tennysongen Ahanna'. It was a popular feature in the newspaper at the time. His answers to the questions posed by readers are hilarious. He has acted only a handful of television serials as he personally disliked acting in teledramas and preferred to be involved in major productions such as films.
Cooray wrote the story for Priyasad's ''
Kolompoor
''Kolompoor'' ( si, කොළොම්පූර්) is a 1999 Sri Lankan Sinhala comedy, family film directed by Dinesh Priyasad and produced by Lalindra Wijewickrama for Lalindra Films. It stars comic duo Bandu Samarasinghe, and Tennyson Coor ...
'' and acted with Bandu, which became a blockbuster in that year. In 2001, Tennyson made his maiden cinema direction with the comedy film ''Thank You Berty''. He also acted in the film along with longtime friend Bandu Samarasinghe. Apart from that, he also directed the home movie ''Eya Thamai Meya'' in 2015. In 2011, he went to the United Kingdom for a series of concerts organized by UK charity '1+1=1'.
In 2018, Tennyson acted in the film ''Yama Raja Siri'' with Bandu for the first time in 10 years. In the same year, he acted in the comedy theater play ''Reliy Remix'' produced by Sisil Gunasekara. Later, he won the award for the Best Comedian at 2018
Derana Lux Film Awards for the film ''Kota Uda Express''.
Selected stage plays
* ''Captain Cool''
* ''I am Sri Lanka''
* ''Kurulla''
* ''La Rosa''
* ''Man The Man''
* ''Reliy Remix''
* ''Sivamma Dhanapala''
* ''Tarzan The Baba''
Filmography
References
External links
*
I am Sri Lanka in Moratuwaබලන් ඉඳල බැරිම තැනFACE BOOK ද? FAKE BOOK ද?අපි දෙන්නා අමනාප කරන්න සමහරු පෙළඹුණේවිකට ශිල්පීන්ගේ පුදුම විහිළුඋගුලයි මගුලයි සිනමා පටයේ මුහුරත් උලෙළටෙනිසන් කුරේගෙන් සමාජ සත්කාරයක්ටෙනිසන්ගෙන් නාට්ය දන්සලක්ලංකාවේ අපක්ෂපාතී සම්මාන උළෙලවල් නැහැටෙනිසන් කුරේ මියයයි*
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ටෙනිසන් කුරේ මහතා අභවප්රාප්ත වෙයිටෙනිසන් කුරේ අවසන් ගමනේආයේ කවදා හමුවෙමුද...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooray, Tennison
Sri Lankan male film actors
Sinhalese male actors
Sri Lankan comedians
2020 deaths
1952 births
People from Moratuwa
Sri Lankan film directors
20th-century comedians
20th-century Sri Lankan male actors
21st-century comedians
21st-century Sri Lankan male actors
Male comedians