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Ananda Weerakoon

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Ananda Weerakoon
Born
Don Ananda Weerakoon

(1934-09-20)September 20, 1934
Wellampitiya, Sri Lanka
Died21 September 2022 (aged 88)
NationalitySri Lanka Sri Lankan
EducationNalanda College Colombo
Years active1955–1960

Don Ananda Weerakoon (Sinhala:ආනන්ද වීරකෝන්; 20 September 1934 – 21 September 2022) was a Sri Lankan actor.[1]

Life and career

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Early life

Ananda was born as only son in a family of five children to parents Don William Weerakoon and Amarawathi Kalansuriya. He was educated at Nalanda College Colombo and was also a Bachelor of Arts degree holder. Since school days he had been keenly interested in history and arts. He first participated in a dance to welcome the Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Ceylon together with Shesha Palihakkara and Titus Thotawatte at the Colombo Regal Hall.[2]

Film acting

He first started acting in a film as a young boy called "Harry" in one of the films directed by Sirisena Wimalaweera. Later on Ananda had been acting in many films directed by Sirisena Wimalaweera such as Asoka (1955 film) and Lester James Peries's Rekava film.[3][4] In 2021, he 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.[5]

Stay in England

In 1960, Ananda moved to the United Kingdom and since then he worked as an insurance agent in London for 29 years.[6]


Weerakoon died on September 21, 2022, at the age of 88.[7]

Filmography

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Year Film Role Ref.
1955 Asoka Harry
1955 Podi Putha
1956 Rekava Nimal
1957 Sukumali Vijaya
1957 Jeewitha Satana
1959 Ma Ale Kala Tharuniya Jayasena
1960 Wana Mala

References

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  1. ^ Theatre, his forte
  2. ^ "පටාචාරා අත හැරියා - සේපාලි අමතක කළා". Archived from the original on 2013-07-08. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  3. ^ Rekava
  4. ^ Ananda Weerakoon
  5. ^ "An award for pioneering artists in cinema". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  6. ^ Kataragama Festival He’ll light up your life - Part II
  7. ^ "රේඛාවේ රඟපෑ ආනන්ද වීරකෝන් අවමඟුල අද | Divaina". divaina.lk. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
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