Kasma Booty ( Jawi: كسم بوتي; born Kasmah binti Abdullah; – 1 June 2007) was an Indonesian-born Malaysian actress, dubbed the "

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

of Malaysia".

Personal life

Kasma Booty was born as Kasmah Abdullah in

Kisaran Kisaran is a large town in the North Sumatra province of Indonesia. Kisaran is the administrative capital of Asahan Regency. Kisaran does not now have the status of an independent city, but is composed of two administrative districts (''kecamata ...

North Sumatra North Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan on the east coast of the island. It borders Aceh to the northwest, Riau to the sou ...

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

(now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

) of

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

and Javanese descent. Beginning her acting and film career at the early age of 15, she ultimately changed her name to Kasma Booty after marrying her husband, Jacob Booty. The couple had four children - Cempaka, Asmara, Purnama (her youngest child) and Suria (who is now deceased).

Acting career

She began her film career by acting in a number of films produced by

Shaw Brothers Shaw Brothers (HK) Limited () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, operating from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shangh ...

. Her movies at Shaw Brothers included Cempaka (1947) and Noor Asmara (1949). Kasma next moved to the Cathay Keris Studio in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

before moving to the Merdeka Studio in

Hulu Kelang Ulu Kelang (alternately Hulu Kelang, Ulu Klang, or Hulu Klang), is a mukim and a state constituency in Gombak District, Selangor, Malaysia. It is one of five state constituencies administered by Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ). Geography ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

in the 1960s. She received the Merak Kayangan award for veteran, long time film stars at the seventh annual Malaysian Film Festival in 1987, as well being awarded the Jury Award at the 35th annual

Asia Pacific Film Festival The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific (FPA). The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954. History The festival was first he ...

in 1990.

Illness and death

Booty suffered from a number of medical conditions in her later years, including heart problems,

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

high blood pressure Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms itself. It is, however, a major ri ...

and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. She was admitted to Ampang Hospital, located in the suburb of Ampang near

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

on 13 May 2007, after complaining of shortness of breath due to pneumonia. While being hospitalised, she asked to visit

Cameron Highlands The Cameron Highlands () is a district in Pahang, Malaysia, occupying an area of . To the north, its boundary touches that of Kelantan; to the west, it shares part of its border with Perak. Situated at the northwestern tip of Pahang, Cameron Hi ...

Pahang {{Infobox political division , name = Pahang , official_name = Pahang Darul Makmur , native_name = , settlement_type = States and federal territories of Malaysia, State , image_skyline = , imagesize ...

and Pulau Besar in

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

. Unfortunately, her final wishes was never granted as she was unable to leave the hospital. According to an interview with her granddaughter, Jeng Riema Booty Purnama, Kasma had been well enough to eat some of her favourite foods in the hospital such as ''

lontong ''Lontong'' () is an Indonesian cuisine, Indonesian dish made of compressed rice cake in the form of a Cylinder (geometry), cylinder wrapped inside a banana leaf, commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Rice is rolled inside a bana ...

'', ''kentang putar'' and ''

nasi kandar ''Nasi kandar'' ( Northern Malay: ; Jawi: ناسي كاندر) is a popular northern Malaysian dish from Penang, originally introduced by Tamil Muslim traders from India. The meal consists of steamed rice combined with an array of distinct curr ...

''. She died at 2 a.m on 1 June 2007 of pneumonia surrounded by her children. She was 75 at the time and left behind 12 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Her body was buried at Kampung Klang Gate Cemetery.

Filmography

Studios Cathay Keris Studios Merdeka Studios

References

External links

* {{authority control 1932 births 2007 deaths Entertainers from Medan Indonesian emigrants to Malaysia Malaysian people of Javanese descent Malaysian people of Dutch descent Malaysian Muslims Malaysian film actresses 20th-century Malaysian actresses Deaths from pneumonia in Malaysia Naturalised citizens of Malaysia Indonesian people of Dutch descent Indo people Indonesian Muslims Members of the Order of the Defender of the Realm