Leena de Silva

Liyanage Don Leena Piyasili de Silva (born 30 October 1936 as ලීනා ද සිල්වා) [Sinhala]), popularly as Leena de Silva, is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television.[1][2] One of the earliest piilars of Sri Lankan cinema, de Silva has contributed many critically acclaimed films of her generation with a career spanning more than six decades.[3]

Leena de Silva ලීනා ද සිල්වා
Born	Liyanage Don Leena Piyasili de Silva 30 October 1936 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Education	Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Kotte
Occupation	Actress, Director
Years active	1954–2001
Spouse(s)	Ravindra Rupasena (1960-1978)
Children	2
Parents	Don Simon de Silva (father) Alice Silva (mother)

Personal life

de Silva was born on 30 October 1936 in Maligakanda, Colombo.[4] Her father, Don Simon de Silva worked as a supervisor at Ceylon Cargo Board Company. Her mother was Alice Silva. She has two sisters, Trilicia Kusuma and Merlyn Thilaka and one brother, Jayampath Sam. She completed education from Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Kotte.

She was married to fellow actor Ravindra Rupasena from 11 November 1960 to his death in 1978.[5] She met Rupasena during her maiden film Ahankara Sthree and then the couple appeared in many film together, including Surathali, Sohoyuro, Sundara Birinda, Suneetha and Nalagana. The couple has one son and one daughter. Her son, Bimal Yoga Sri was born on 13 September 1961 and daughter Poorna Priyadarshani was born on 1 June 1963.[6]

Rupasena's younger sister was married to film producer Stanley de Silva. Rupasena has one brother, W.A. Keerthisena. Rupasena died from heart attack on 15 April 1978 at the age of 49. At the time of his demise, he was working as a Planner at the Irrigation Department in Colombo.[6] Leena moved to Canada in 1991 and currently lives in Pickering, Ontario with her children.[7]

Career

In the English class of school, de Silva played the lead role in the play Pipe Piper Model. It was her first performance on stage. During school times at the age of 12, she learned dancing from renowned dancer and actor Shesha Palihakkara, who introduced Leena on to the cinema screen.[5] Her maiden cinematic appearance came through 1954 film Ahankara Sthree along with her future husband Ravindra Rupasena while in grade 9 at the school. She performed a dance sequence as Lanka Matha in it.[8] Then Cyril P. Abeyratne was looking for an artiste to play the lead female role in his film Surathali in 1956.[7] In 1955, she won the fifth place at the "Panch Kalyani beauty pageant".[6]

Her husband introduced her to Abeyratne and she acted in his film later that year. She was introduced to Dr. Lester James Peries by guru Palihakkara to act in his film Rekava. However, due to offence from school principal and father, she refused to act in the movie. However, due to sudden death of her husband, de Silva quit from acting for two years and returned with 1980 film Ganga Addara.[5] She acted in many popular films such as, Sundara Birinda, Kele Mal, Awaragira and Yahalu Yeheli. Leena was lucky enough to act along with Rukmani Devi in the film Nalangana.[6]

Apart from cinema, de Silva also acted in few stage dramas such as Thattu gewal, Dolosweni Raathriya and Julius Caesar.[6] She also appeared in television serials Selalihini Gammanaya, Sudu Parewiyo, Himi Ahimi and Uda gira. While in Canada, de Silva directed the tele serial Ratakin Ratakata.[8]

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Ref.
1954	Ahankara Sthree	Lanka Matha Dancer
1956	Surathali	Surathali
1958	Sohoyuro
1958	Suneetha	Suneetha
1960	Sundara Birinda	Rupa
1960	Nalangana
1964	Sulalitha Sobani	Shanthi 'Sobani'
1964	Sujage Rahasa
1967	Ran Rasa	Indrani
1980	Ganga Addara	Attapattu 'Hamine'
1981	Valampuri
1981	Aradhana
1981	Saaranga
1982	Kele Mal	Nanda
1982	Kiri Suwanda	Mother-in-law
1982	Malata Noena Bambaru		[9]
1982	Paaramitha
1982	Yahalu Yeheli	Mrs. Wanigasekara
1983	Kaliyugaya
1983	Samanala Sihina
1984	Hithawathiya	Sarath's mother
1985	Adara Kathawa
1985	Kirimadu Wal
1985	Varsity Kella	Mrs. Siriweera
1986	Peralikarayo	Tanuja
1986	Dushyanthi	Kiri Manika
1986	Koti Waligaya
1986	Sinha Pataw
1986	Dinuma	Chandra
1988	Chandingeth Chandiya
1989	Sebaliyo
1989	Sirimedura	Nirmala's sister
1989	Badulu Kochchiya
1990	Thanha Asha	Mother
1990	Veera Udara
1991	Raja Kello
1991	Raja Daruwo	Asilina 'Leena'
1994	Sujatha	Seetha Rajasuriya
1995	Awaragira	Kusuma
1996	Seema Pawuru
2000	Anuragaye Ananthaya	Shanthi
2001	Poronduwa	Ajith's mother

References

1. "Actresses in Sri Lankan cinema - Leena de Silva". National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
2. "Leena De Silva filmography". Sinhala Cinema Database. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
3. "Leena de Silva films". IMDb. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
4. "Celebrating Leena's birthday". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
5. "Awards, Tributes ... No regrets about not receiving". Divaina. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
6. "A series of articles exploring the art world of the past". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
7. "Award winning actress Leena de Silva turns 80". Lanka Reporter. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
8. "Screen queen of yesteryear". The Nation. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
9. "All about the film "Malata Noena Bambaru"". sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-01-12.

External links

• First Sri Lankan film that ban in screening