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Sodsai Pantoomkomol

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Sodsai Pantoomkomol
สดใส พันธุมโกมล
Born
Sodsai Vanijvadhana

(1934-03-18) 18 March 1934 (age 90)
Bangkok, Siam
Other namesSondi Sodsai
Occupations
  • Actress
  • associate professor
Known forPioneering modern theater education in Thailand
SpouseTrong Pantoomkomol
AwardsNational Artist (2011)
Academic background
Alma mater
Academic work
DisciplineDramatic arts
Sub-disciplineTheater
InstitutionsChulalongkorn University

Sodsai Pantoomkomol (Thai: สดใส พันธุมโกมล; RTGS: Sotsai Phanthumkomon; pronounced [sòt.sǎj pʰān.tʰūm.kōː.mōn]) née Vanijvadhana (วานิชวัฒนา; RTGS: Wanitwatthana;[wāː.nít.wáttʰanāː]; born 18 March 1934) is a Thai actress, beauty pageant titleholder, and teacher of dramatic arts. Also known as Sondi Sodsai from her acting career in the United States during her studies, she returned to Thailand to become a lecturer and associate professor at the Faculty of Arts of Chulalongkorn University, where she founded the Dramatic Arts Department, the first such school in the country. She produced numerous theatrical works throughout her career, and was named National Artist in 2011.

Early life and education

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Sodsai Vanijvadhana was born on 18 March 1934 in Bangkok, Siam, to Subhajaya Vanijvadhana, professor and head of the Biology Department at Chulalongkorn University, and Prayongsi Vanijvadhana (née Laksanasut). She attended Mater Dei School, and enrolled at Chulalongkorn's Faculty of Arts. She graduated Bachelor of Arts with honors, and subsequently received a Fulbright scholarship to study teaching English as a foreign language in the United States. However, with encouragement from her advisor Prince Prem Purachatra, she asked to study dramatic arts instead.[1] She enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she caught up on drama courses including acting, directing and playwriting.

Career in the United States

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In the course of her study, she was often selected for leading parts in plays, from which she became noticed, and was subsequently invited to appear on television shows such as Tonight Starring Jack Paar and multiple appearances on You Bet Your Life.[2] She also received a record offer with Liberty Records and released an exotica[3] album Sondi in 1959.[4]

She transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles upon the suggestion of her advisers, to be able to pursue more career opportunities. She was then offered a seven-year contract with 20th Century-Fox Television, which she declined, settling for a two-year scholarship and training program instead.[5][6] During her acting career in Hollywood she was a semi-regular on ABC's Adventures in Paradise with Gardner McKay,[7][8] and also guest starred on CBS's The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour. She also appeared in Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer[9] and The Case of the Dangerous Robin.[10] She went by the alias "Sondi Sodsai" in her acting career because her last name "was too difficult for foreigners to pronounce."[5][11]

She represented Thailand in the Miss Universe 1959 beauty pageant, where she won the Miss Friendship Award.[12][13]

Career in Thailand

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Upon completing her studies, Sodsai returned to Thailand and became a lecturer at her alma mater, Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Arts. At the time, formal education in dramatic arts did not exist in Thailand. Sodsai pioneered the field, establishing the Faculty's Department of Dramatic Arts in 1970. She developed curricula based on the theories and practices of Western theater, and helped lay out the foundations of drama education in both tertiary and secondary institutions, as well as in professional circles. Of the initial difficulties of establishing the school, she noted in an interview of how she and her students lacked a theater in which to perform: "We were like nomads, we performed under the trees, on the verandah, in the attic. Practically wherever they allowed us."[5][11]

Sodsai produced many works, writing and directing numerous plays, as well as editing, acting and composing. Her plays include Yankee Don't Go Home, Tukkata Kaew ("Glass doll"), Yot Pratthana ("Dearest"), Koet Pen Tua Lakhon ("Born a play character"), Phu Phae–Phu Chana ("Loser–winner"), Phrai Nam, Khon Di Thi Sechuan ("Samaritan at Sichuan") and her latest production Lam Di ("the Good Interpreter"), which was released in 2009. She translated and presented works of Western drama, including The Glass Menagerie and Hedda Gabler, for the Thai audience. She also directed television dramas, winning a Mekhala Award for her 1984 adaptation of Chart Korbjitti's novel Kham Phiphaksa ("The Judgement"), which she applied Western technics in directing.[11][14]

Personal life and honours

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Sodsai was married to Trong Pantoomkomol, former head of the Orthopedics Department at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, with three children. In recognition of her contributions to the field, Sodsai was named a National Artist in performing arts (theatrical and television plays) for 2011,[11] and received the Dushdi Mala Medal in 2014.[15] Thailand's first playwriting competition, the Sodsai Award, and Chulalongkorn University's Sodsai Pantoomkomol Center for Dramatic Arts, which opened in 2011, are named in her honor.[14][16] Many of her students have gone on to become key figures in the show business, and Ying Thai Magazine has called her the most influential woman in the Thai entertainment industry.[17]

References

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  1. ^ จิรเดช โอภาสพันธ์วงศ์ (10 August 2016). "สดใส พันธุมโกมล : ครูใหญ่ผู้เป็นที่รักของนักเรียนการละครทุกคน 1/4". A Day Online (in Thai). Retrieved 11 February 2018. Reproduced from A Day magazine (131). July 2011.
  2. ^
    • "Details, Previews of Tonight's TV". Miami Herald. 8 January 1959. p. 83.
    • Thomas, Bob (27 December 1959). "Groucho the Pixie Bosses Quiz That Needs No Fixing". Independent Press-Telegram. p. 26. The sole photograph for the article is of her joking with Groucho Marx on the set.
    • "Radio TV Highlights". The Middletown Journal. 23 June 1960. p. 56.
  3. ^ Brown, Matthew (9 April 2012). Debussy Redux: The Impact of His Music on Popular Culture. Indiana University Press. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-253-35716-8.
  4. ^ "Reviews and Ratings of New Albums". Billboard. 29 June 1959. p. 41.
  5. ^ a b c Srisirirungsimakul, Nuttaporn (9 April 2009). "Sodsai Pantoomkomol". BK Magazine. Asia City. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  6. ^ Parsons, Louella (10 August 1960). "Keeping Up With Hollywood". The Cumberland News. Cumberland, Maryland. p. 6. Sondi is a regular in "Adventures in Paradise" with Gardner McKay at 20th. But her honorable papa will not allow his lovely daughter to sign as a term actress.
  7. ^ Torre, Marie (2 August 1960). "Television Today". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. p. 33. the show's management has employed Sondi Sodsai ... as a regular
  8. ^ Erickson, Bevery Hoffman (2009). Gardner Mckay: Is My Adventures in Paradise. Xlibris Corporation. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4628-0711-6.
  9. ^ "It's Sondi…On TV!!". Kitty & Mr. C's Enchanted Tiki Hut Show. 20 March 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Tele Vues". Independent Press-Telegram. 11 June 1961. p. 137.
  11. ^ a b c d "รองศาสตราจารยสดใส พันธุมโกมล (Associate Professor Sodsai Pantoomkomol; award citation)" (PDF) (in Thai). Department of Cultural Promotion. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  12. ^ "Bangkok Girl Chosen as Miss Friendship". Los Angeles Times. 24 July 1959. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  13. ^ Wells, Bob (24 July 1959). "Thailand's Happy Sondi Sodsai Voted 'Miss Friendship'". Long Beach Independent. p. 1.
  14. ^ a b Mahasarinand, Pawit (19 April 2009). "Laugh at and learn from the Good Interpreter". ACE Magazine. Nation Multimedia. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  15. ^ "ประกาศสำนักนายกรัฐมนตรี เรื่อง พระราชทานเหรียญดุษฎีมาลา เข็มศิลปวิทยา ประจำปี 2556" (PDF). Royal Thai Government Gazette. 131 (9b): 3. 22 April 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  16. ^ Panjamal (1 June 2011). "Macbeth in Thai: 'Double, Double Toil And Trouble; Fire Burn And Cauldron Bubble'". Thai-ASEAN News Network. Retrieved 27 April 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  17. ^ ปริศนา. "ผู้หญิง ผู้ทรงอิทธิพลในวงการบันเทิง รองศาสตราจารย์สดใส พันธุมโกมล ศิลปินแห่งชาติ (Influential woman of the entertainment industry: Associate Professor Sodsai Pantoomkomol, National Artist)". Ying Thai (in Thai) (877). Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2012.

Further reading

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