Iranganie Roxanna Meedeniya (born 9 June 1927),
["Irangani As Told to Kumar de Silva", Kumar de Silva, Samaranayake Publishers, 2013] best known as Iranganie Serasinghe, is a Sri Lankan actress of theater and television. Since her debut in ''
Rekava
''Rekava'' (Sinhala language, Sinhala for "Line of Destiny") is a 1956 film based on village life and mythical beliefs in Sri Lanka (then Dominion of Ceylon, Ceylon). It is the first Sinhala film fully shot in Ceylon and was shot outdoors in the ...
'', Serasinghe has become recognized for playing motherly figures in various films and television serials.
She is the aunt of former president
Ranil Wickramasinghe
Ranil Wickremesinghe (; ; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. He has also served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 a ...
.
Early life and education
She was born on June 9, 1927, in Mudungomuwa, Ruwanwella, Sri Lanka, to Joseph Hercules Meedeniya,
Rate Mahatmaya
Rate Mahatmaya was a traditional office and title from the Kandian Kingdom which became part of the British colonial administration within the Kandian and central region of Ceylon.
History
Persons were appointed to the title and office by the Ki ...
of
Ratnapura
Ratnapura (, ; , ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is loca ...
and Violet Ellawela. Her paternal grandfather was
J. H. Meedeniya Adigar was elected unopposed to the Ruwanwella seat in the State Council, and her uncles included
D. R. Wijewardena
Don Richard Wijewardena (Sinhala language, Sinhala:දොන් රිච්ඩ් විජෙවර්ධන) (23 February 1886 – 13 June 1950) was a Sri Lankan media proprietor who was involved in the Sri Lankan independence movement. A s ...
and Sir
Francis Molamure
Sir Alexander Francis Molamure, (7 February 1888 – 25 January 1951; commonly known as Sir Francis Molamure or A. F. Molamure) was a Ceylonese politician. He became the first Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, speaker of both the State C ...
. Her mother was the sister of Nanda Ellawala's father, who was a Member of Parliament for Ratnapura. She had three siblings: Indrani Meedeniya, Kamani Vitharana, who married Professor
Tissa Vitharana
Upali Tissa Vitharana (born 30 August 1934) is a Sri Lankan politician, former Member of Parliament and former cabinet minister. He is the current leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and served as List of Governors of North Central Provin ...
and Mahinda Meedeniya.
Her early touches with nature later led her to become an environmental activist. While attending
Bishop's College she played in several end-of-term plays; at
Girls' High School, Kandy whilst pursuing a HSC; Meedeniya took a leading role in Bernard Shaw's ''
Pygmalion''. Against her father's and Rate Mahatthaya's wishes, Meedeniya entered the
University of Colombo
The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a Public University, public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in t ...
in 1947 with the support of her cousins. He died in her first year away, at a time when
Marxist
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
ideas were the norm. She immersed herself in the Ceylon theater scene while there under the guidance of Professor
E. F. C. Ludowyk; she also became a proficient dancer with lessons from
Chitrasena
Deshamanya Amaratunga Arachige Maurice Dias, (26 January 1921 – 18 July 2005), popularly known by his mononym Chitrasena, was a Sri Lankan dancer, internationally known for his work in establishing a modern Sri Lankan tradition of dance and ...
.
She was the first student to study drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School under the guidance of Professor Ludowyk.
She eventually graduated with an arts degree and traveled to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
with letters of recommendation from Ludowyk following a marriage to Professor Dissanayake (they divorced some time later). There, with the help of actresses
Flora Robson
Dame Flora McKenzie Robson (28 March 19027 July 1984) was an English actress and star of the theatrical stage and cinema, particularly renowned for her performances in plays demanding dramatic and emotional intensity. Her range extended from qu ...
and
Sybil Thorndike
Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969.
Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her h ...
, Meedeniya attended
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre.
BOVTS was an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance a ...
for a year and the London School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art for two years.
She was first married to a contemporary student at the university and later became a specialist dentist, Professor S. B. Dissanayake. That marriage did not last long. She was then married to fellow actor Winston Serasinghe, during playing English stage plays. There was a 17 year age gap between the two. Winston had appeared in Rekava and some other productions with her. The couple had two sons: Ravi & Ranjit. Her son Ravi died by an accident at the age of 31. Her husband Winston died in 1999.
Career
Returning to
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
, Meedeniya met up with Ludowyk and Austrian Jew director Neuman Jubal and got back into theater. The
Lionel Wendt Art Centre
The Lionel Wendt Art Centre is a major art centre and theatre in Colombo, Sri Lanka, dedicated to the memory of Sri Lankan photographic artist Lionel Wendt. It combines live theatre and art exhibition, with two exhibition galleries and two thea ...
theater portion of the center opened on 12 December 1953 with the production of Maxim Gorky's "The Lower Depths", starring Iranganie Serasinghe and produced by Neuman Jubal. Doing mainly English roles at first, she started playing in Sinhala theater in Henry Jayasena's ''Apata Puthe Magak Nethe'' and followed with roles in Damma Jagoda's Sinhala version of ''
A Streetcar Named Desire
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...
'', ''Ves Muhunu'', and ''Porisadaya''. The following years saw Meedeniya in constantly changing settings–teaching briefly at
Musaeus College
Musaeus College is a Buddhist private girls' school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The school is named after its founding principal, Marie Musaeus Higgins (1855 – 10 July 1926) from Wismar, Germany, who served as the school's principal from 1891 t ...
, working for ''
The Times of Ceylon
''The Times of Ceylon'' was an English language daily newspaper in Sri Lanka published by Times of Ceylon Limited (TOCL). It was founded in 1846 as the ''Ceylon Times'' and was published from Colombo. It ceased publication in 1985.
History
The ...
'' after returning from London, doing a stint at the
SLBC and handling a post in the tourist trade working as a junior executive and guide of Walkers Tours and Travels (Pvt)Ltd. Accordingly, Serasinghe is the first Sri Lankan actress to have received an academic training in acting.
Meedeniya started her career in cinema in
Lester James Peries
Sri Lankabhimanya Lester James Peries (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකාභිමාන්ය ලෙස්ටර් ජේම්ස් පීරිස්; 5 April 1919 – 29 April 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director, ...
"Be Safe or Be Sorry" for the Government Film Unit. Peries subsequently cast her in his debut feature film ''
Rekava
''Rekava'' (Sinhala language, Sinhala for "Line of Destiny") is a 1956 film based on village life and mythical beliefs in Sri Lanka (then Dominion of Ceylon, Ceylon). It is the first Sinhala film fully shot in Ceylon and was shot outdoors in the ...
'' as a mother, 'Kathirinahamy'. In 1956, she won the Deepashikha Award for Best Actress for her debut performance in the film. With the new surname, Iranganie Serasinghe achieved fame as an actress appearing in many of Peries' early works.
Later she won the Sarasaviya Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film ''Sagarayak Meda'' in 1982. Her next notable character came through the film ''Sudu Sewaneli'' directed by
Sunil Ariyaratne
Vidyodaya Vibhushana Sahithya Kala Shiromani Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne Kuruwita Bandara ( සුනිල් ආරියරත්න; born 28 July 1949), popularly as Sunil Ariyaratne, is a Sri Lankan scholar, film director, author, poet and a lyr ...
where she played the character of a poor old mother. In 2000, she won the Presidential Award for Best Supporting Actress for this role.
In 2021, she was honored with lifetime achievement award during the ceremony held for 21 artists who made an invaluable contribution to Sinhala cinema in the early decades of Sinhala Cinema.
Beyond Drama
Prior to entering the film industry, she was the editor-in-chief of the Times of Ceylon. As a revolutionary political figure, Iranganie was a communist militant at university. As a result, Peter Kehnemann, Bernard Zoysa, and Doric de Souza became active in politics at a time when Colvin R. De Silva has repeatedly invited her to contest a seat from the Lanka Sama Samaja Party.
National Awards
*
Kala Keerthi The Kala Keerthi () is a Sri Lankan national honour awarded "''for extraordinary achievements and contributions in arts, culture and drama''". It is the highest national honour for arts, culture and drama in Sri Lanka. It is conventionally used as ...
- Sri Lankan Government
*Sri Lankan of the Year (2017) - Entertainment Distinguished Achievement - Ada Derana
* Best actress Special jury award - State Radio Awards 2019
Biography
* ''Irangani as Told to Kumar de Silva'' - by Kumar de Silva
* ''අයිරාංගනී'' - Sinhala version by same author.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
Iranganie Serasinghe's SLMDbIranganie Serasinghe's Biography in Sinhala Cinema Database*
Iranganie Serasinghe – personal website*
Irangani Serasinghe's childhood photographsරංගන විජිතයේ කිරුළු පළන් ආදරණීය මිත්තණිය අයිරාංගනී සේරසිංහ කියයියථාර්ථවාදී රංගනයක පුරෝගාමී නිළියඅපතේ ගිය ඇගේ රූපණ ප්රතිභාව
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serasinghe, Iranganie
1927 births
Living people
Sri Lankan film actresses
Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Colombo)
Alumni of Bishop's College, Colombo
Alumni of Girls' High School, Kandy
Sri Lankan Roman Catholics
Sinhalese artists
20th-century Sri Lankan actresses
21st-century Sri Lankan actresses
Kala Keerthi