Don Bhathiyatissa Wijesurendra (තිස්ස විජේසුරේන්ද්ර 3 April 1949 – 11 May 2020), popularly as Tissa Wijesurendra, was a Sri Lankan
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 ...
. One of the most popular actors of the 1970s, Wijesurendra played many dramatic roles in a career spanning four decades. An innocent lover of Sinhala cinema at one time, Wijesurendra can be described as a symbol of popular cinema.
Personal life
Wijesurendra was born on 3 April 1949 in Sarikkamulla, Panadura as the eldest of the family.
[ His father was an engineer. He was educated at ]Nalanda College Colombo
''Āpadāna Sobhinī Panñā''
, motto_translation = Character Illumines Wisdom
, established =
, founder = Patrick de Silva Kularatne
, type = National
, grades = 1 ...
. He qualified to become a doctor but became an actor instead.
He was married until his death to Savithri Dias Wijesurendra, a retired teacher who formerly worked at Visakha Vidyalaya
Visakha Vidyalaya () is a girls' school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is a National School managed by the central government providing primary and secondary education.
History
The school was established in 1917 by Celestina Dias as the Buddhist ...
. The couple had three daughters. Their daughter Surani has been involved with few television serials and has worked as a TV host. Tissa's younger brother Bandula was a photographer for Sarasavi newspaper for a long time.[
Wijesurendra died on 11 May 2020, at the age of 71 while receiving treatments at Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama.]
Cinema career
During school times, he stayed at an uncle's house in Bambalapitiya because it was easy to attend tuition classes. That uncle worked at Ceylon Theaters where he was selected for a film. His maiden cinema appearance came through the 1971 film ''Kalana Mithuro'' directed by Kingsley Rajapakse
Kumarasinghe Rajapakse (9 April 1934 – 13 June 1983 කිංස්ලි රාජපක්ෂ), popularly known as Kingsley Rajapakse was a film director and actor in Sri Lankan cinema.
Personal life
Kumarasinghe was born on 9 April 1 ...
. It was a remake of popular Hollywood film ''Dosthi'' and the reason to cast Tissa is that he and Sudhir Sawant
Sudhir Sawant is an Indian politician. He is Honorary Brigadier (Retd.) from Territorial Army. He was actively involved in Party Politics till Late 2019, currently heading Sainik Federation and actively involved with grassroot level social activ ...
of ''Dosthi'' looks similar. Kingsley Rajapaksa edited the name of "Batiyathissa" to suit the cinema. Tissa was allowed to star in a feature film ''Nim Walalla'' in 1970 directed by Ranjith Lal shot by a group of students at Ananda College at the same time. This film was his first screened film. It is the only feature film made by a group of school children. In the film, he was the brother of Swarna Mallawarachchi
Swarna Mallawarachchi (born 1 August 1948: si, ස්වර්ණා මල්ලවාරච්චි), is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema. Often known as the "Golden star of Sinhalese cinema", Swarna began her acting career whilst still a scho ...
.[
From the films he acted in, the first box office record was made by Tissa and Malani in the film ''Suhada Pethuma''.] Since then, Tissa-Malani era shaped the seventies. Since then, he acted in several popular film under the renowned directors: K.A.W. Perera, Amarnath Jayatilleke, Neil Rupasinghe and Chandraratne Mapitigama. After the film ''Suhada Pethuma'', the two stars were lovers in the films ''Sadhana'', ''Nila'' and ''Ran Kurullo'', he also played the role as lover to many other film actresses like Geetha Kumarasinghe
Kumara Vidugalage Dona Geetha Samanmalee Kumarasinghe (born 5 July 1955: si, ගීතා කුමාරසිංහ), popularly known as Geetha Kumarasinghe, is a Sri Lankan film actress and Member of a Parliament. She is the current State M ...
, Nita Fernando
Nita Fernando (born 5 September 1947, නීටා ප්රනාන්දු) in Negombo, Sri Lanka is an actress in the Sri Lankan cinema. She has starred in films like '' Duhulu Malak'' and ''Pavuru Walalu''.
Biography Early life
Nita ...
, Jenita Samaraweera in films like ''Sureka'', ''Neela'', ''Niluka'', ''Sudu Paraviyo'', ''Kalana Mithuro'' and ''Lasanda''. His best contemporaries in the cinema were Vijaya Kumaranatunga
Kovilage Anton Vijaya Kumaranatunga ( si, කොවිලගේ ඇන්ටන් විජය කුමාරණතුංග; ta, விஜய_குமாரணதுங்க; 9 October 1945 – 16 February 1988), popularly known as Vijaya ...
, Gamini Fonseka
Kala Keerthi Sembuge Gamini Shelton Fonseka () (21 March 1936 - 30 September 2004 as ගාමිණී ෆොන්සේකා), was a Sri Lankan film actor, film director and politician. Often considered as the Greatest Actor in the Sinhal ...
and Tony Ranasinghe
Deshabandu Ranasinghe Hettiarachchilage Ignatius Anthony Silva (31 July 1937 – 16 June 2015 as ටෝනි රණසිංහ), popularly as Tony Ranasinghe, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television.
He is known as the Lov ...
. Geetha Kumarasinghe first made her love affair with Wijesurendra with the film ''Lassana Kella''. He is the only Sri Lankan actor to continue playing the protagonist in all films he acted in since the maiden film. He went on to make box office records in the Sinhala cinema history in seventies.[
As the 1980s dawned, Wijesurendra's number of films began to decline. In 1983, he acted in the film ''Senehasaka Kandulu'' 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 ...
, where he and Sonia Disa
Mary Felicia Perera (born June 7, 1944, සෝනියා දිසා) inhala, popularly as Sonia Dissanayake or known professionally as Sonia Disa, is a former actress in Sri Lankan cinema. Starting her career in 1962, Disa became one of th ...
played Veddah characters. The he acted a different role in ''Nelum Vile Saman Malak'' directed by Chandraratne Mapitigama.[ He expected an award for this character and it premiered in India as well. However, he did not receive the award and temporarily quit cinema after frustration.] In 1993, he played the older role as Sabeetha's father in the film ''Bambasara Bisaw''.
Filmography
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wijesurendra, Tissa
2020 deaths
Sinhalese male actors
Sri Lankan male film actors
Sri Lankan Buddhists
Alumni of Nalanda College, Colombo
1949 births
20th-century Sri Lankan male actors
21st-century Sri Lankan male actors