Joe Abeywickrama

Joe Abeywickrama
ජෝ අබේවික්‍රම
Born
Gammana Patabendige Don John Abeywickrama

June 22, 1927
Ratnapura, Sri Lanka
Died21 September 2011(2011-09-21) (aged 84)
NationalitySri Lankan
EducationSivali Central College
OccupationActor
Years active1955-2011
Known forCrowned king of Sri Lankan cinema
Notable workSaraiya in Saravita
Vannihamy in Pura Handa Kaluwara
Silindu in Baddegama

Deshabandu Gammana Patabendige Don John Abeywickrama (Sinhala:ජෝ අබේවික්‍රම) (22 June 1927 – 21 September 2011), popularly as Joe Abeywickrama, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television.[1] Initially famed as a comedic actor in early 1950s, Abeywickrama became one of the greatest film actors of alltime in Sinhala cinema with several critically acclaimed award winning dramatic performances.[2][3][4][5]

He has won 18 Sarasavi Awards and Presidential Awards.[6] At the 1999 Singapore International Film Festival, Abeywickrama won a Silver Screen Award for Best Asian Actor for his portrayal of a grieving father in Pura Handa Kaluwara (English: Death on a Full Moon Day), a first for a Sri Lankan.[7]

He is also widely known as a Crowned king of Sri Lankan cinema history and he was the second to die of the three crowned cinema heroes. (the first cinema king to die was Gamini Fonseka and last of three to die was Tony Ranasinghe.[8] He is the first Sri Lankan actor to ever participated for Filmfare Film Festival, where he participated in 1966.[9]

  1. ^ "Comedians of Sinhala Cinema". Sarasaviya. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Remembering Joe". sundaytimes. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  3. ^ "The struggle of the common man for self-dignity is very profound". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
  4. ^ "Joe Abeywickrama passes away" Archived 2011-10-25 at the Wayback Machine. Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). Retrieved August 05, 2014.
  5. ^ "Joe Abeywickrama the actor extraordinaire" . Sunday Observer (Sri lanka). Retrieved August 05, 2014.
  6. ^ "Sinhala Cinema database" Films lk.Retrieved August 05, 2014.
  7. ^ "Awards for Joe Abeywickrama". Internet Movie Database Inc. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
  8. ^ "Trinity of Sinhala cinema". Divaina. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  9. ^ "First Sri Lankan to participate Filmfare - ෆිල්ම් ෆෙයාර් උලෙළට ගිය මුල්ම ලාංකික නළුවා". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 11 March 2017.