Win Oo ( my, ဝင်းဦး; , 13 March 1935 – 14 December 1988) was a two-time
Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards
The Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards are presented annually to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Burmese Film Industry of Myanmar. The awards ceremony has been held annually since 1952. Each winner is pr ...
winning
Burmese actor, singer, director, writer and publisher. He became publicly known for his acting, singing and directing. Win was considered one of the most important actors in history of Burmese cinema. He died of
colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel m ...
in 1988.
Youth
Win Oo was born on 13 March 1935 as Hla Myint in Rangoon (now
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
) to his parents
U Ba Nyunt (Chit-Dukkha), a history professor at Rangoon University, and
Daw
Daw or DAW may refer to:
People and language
* Daw (given name)
* Daw (surname)
* Daw, an honorific used in Burmese name#Honorifics, Burmese names
* Dâw people, an indigenous people of Brazil
* Dâw language, a language of Brazil
* Davaoeño lang ...
Hnin Yi, as the third of five children.
He matriculated at
TTC (Practicing High School, passing his 10th standard examinations at the age of 14.
He subsequently attended Rangoon University, where he studied mathematics, economics, and French and wrote short stories under the pen name "Nyo Min Lwin."
In 1952, during his third year, he departed from his university studies and joined the
Burmese Army
The Myanmar Army ( my, တပ်မတော်(ကြည်း), ) is the largest branch of the Tatmadaw, Armed Forces (''Tatmadaw'') of Myanmar (Burma) and has the primary responsibility of conducting land-based military operations. The My ...
.
Win Oo was stationed in
Maymyo
Pyin Oo Lwin or Pyin U Lwin (, ; Shan: ), formerly and colloquially referred to as Maymyo (), is a scenic hill town in the Mandalay Region, Myanmar, some east of Mandalay, and at an elevation of . The town was estimated to have a population of ...
(now Pyin Oo Lwin) and
Meiktila
Meiktila (; ) is a city in central Burma on the banks of Meiktila Lake in the Mandalay Region at the junctions of the Bagan-Taunggyi, Yangon-Mandalay and Meiktila-Myingyan highways. Because of its strategic position, Meiktila is home to Myanmar Ai ...
, and spent 9 months in 1959 training in Australia.
Upon his return to Burma, he became a more prolific writer, penning nineteen stories in ''Shumuwa'', including a novel, ''A University Student'' (တက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားတစ်ဦး), in 1960.
He was honourably discharged from the army as a captain in 1962.
Career
He launched his acting career in 1962, starring in ''
Hna-Yauk Hte Nay-Gyin-De'', adapted from his eponymous novel, directed by Tin Yu.
But this movie was not his first film. ''Chit-Thaw-Thu-Ta-Yout'' was his first film in cinema but this movie was not commercially successful. He both directed and starred in ''Saung Einmet'' and ''Hmon Shwe Yee''. He founded the Sanda movie company, established first "color offset printer" in Burma, established "Sanda Magazine Office" and published ''
Sanda Magazine''. He won numerous
Myanmar Academy Award
The Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards are presented annually to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Burmese Film Industry of Myanmar. The awards ceremony has been held annually since 1952. Each winner is pr ...
for his performances, including Best Actor for ''Hmon Shwe Yee'' in 1970. He starred in 27 films, before passing away in 1988. He wrote 31 novels. His most famous book is ''Main ma Hla Ah Mone''.
Legacy
He is best known for his image, acting, unusual voice, and way of speaking and singing,
which some artists often imitate as a fun way of entertainment, especially in
traditional live performances on the stage.
The BBC (Myanmar) described that in Myanmar, not many artists have great success beyond their age and grave, and that Win Oo is one of the few whose success and influence extend till these days. The late Hla Htut, a famous Myanmar pianist and composer, remarked that his use of low-pitched, nasal and legato voices in several songs like ''"Maung Do Cherry Myay"'' (Our Cherry Land) and his voices of interjection in such songs as ''"Mee Pon Pwe"'' (Bonfire) and ''"Ma Ma Moe"'' (Lady Moe) were quite distinct and earned his place in the category of remake-western songs in Myanmar. He directed and appeared as an actor in many films; in ''Ah Twe Ah Tar'', an unusual film for that time because no actress appeared; the main roles are a child-actress and him only, and in a self-directed film, ''Chit Thu Yway Mae` Chit Ware Le`'' he acted in an octa-role with many actresses, which he even made it successful in spite of lack of high film-technology for that period. ''Hmon Shwe Yi'' is one of his prominent works, through which some elements and aspects of Myanmar Stage Performance and Entertainment can be observed. Last but not least, his love for songs by
Myoma Nyein
Myoma Nyein (; born Kyaw Nyein, 25 January 1909 – 15 September 1955) was a renowned Burmese musician and composer. He was a founder of '' Myoma Band'', the longest surviving music band in the modern Burmese history. Between 1935 and 1939, ...
and participation in
Mandalay
Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census).
Mandalay was fo ...
Thingyan festival over a decade is still considered to be a cultural icon in Myanmar.
Filmography
Awards
References
*Cartoon Win Aung's famous artist published in 2006.
External links
Win Oo' SongsMyanmar chronicle*
{{authority control
Burmese male film actors
Burmese film directors
Burmese screenwriters
Burmese cinematographers
People from Yangon
1935 births
1988 deaths
20th-century Burmese male actors
20th-century screenwriters