Lionel Wickrama
ලයනල් වික්‍රම
Born(1946-01-12)12 January 1946
Kandy, British Ceylon
Died17 December 2023(2023-12-17) (aged 77)
Kandy, Sri Lanka
NationalitySri Lankan
EducationSt. Anthony's College, Kandy
Occupation(s)Actor, Production Executive, film producer, location manager
Years active1962–2016
SpouseSwarna Wickrama

Lionel Wickrama (12 January 1946 – 17 December 2023) was a Sri Lankan film, theatre and television actor.[1][2] He is most notable for the role ""Arty Hamu" played in the television drama Batti[3] and films Karumakkarayo, Deveni Warama, and Sakkarang.[4]

Personal life

After school days, he worked as a Senior Technical Officer at Highways Department.[1][5]

Lionel Wickrama was married to Swarna Wickrama, and the couple had two sons: Tharaka Sanjaya and Yasiru Dananjaya.[1]

Illness and death

In 2021, Wickrama was admitted to the hospital with cardiac arrest.[3] He died on 17 December 2023, at the age of 77.[6][7][8] His remains were laid to rest on 17 December at Murutalawa, Kandy for public honors.[9] His final rites were performed at Pirimathalawa Giragama Public Cemetery on 18 December 2023.[10]

Career

While working in the Highways Department, Wickrama worked with the actor Somasiri Dehipitiya.[3] Under his guidance, Wickrama made his maiden cinema appearance in the film Karumakkarayo directed by Tissa Abeysekara in 1980 where he played the role "Baby Mahaththaya".[1][5][11] Then he was introduced to popular actor Gamini Fonseka and got the opportunity to act in the 1981 film Sagarayak Maeda and then in 1982 film Sakvithi Suwaya, both directed by Fonseka.[12] During this period, he met renowned filmmaker Dharmasena Pathiraja and became a close friend.[1]

Apart from acting, he also worked as the Production Executive, film producer and location manager.[3] Even though he co-produced the feature film Shelton Saha Kanthi of Pathiraja, the film was not screened.[13]

In television, he acted in more than 200 serials particularly in elderly evil characters. Along with Pathiraja, he produced and acted in the serial Gangulen Egodata which marked his first television role. The serial was made as the first television serial of Sri Lanka, but televised as the fourth serial.[3] Some of his popular television serials include: Batti, Ella Laga Walawwa, and Sepalika.[14] In the serial Batti, he played the harsh stubborn elderly character "Arty Hamu", which became very popular.[15] Initially the role was set to end with 20 episodes, but later expanded to 400 episodes due to huge popularity.[3]

Wickrama also played another popular role "Dissanayaka Hamu" in the serial Sepalika in 2010 and as "Arthur Hamu" in the serial Ella Laga Walawwa in 1988.[16] In 2016, he played the role as "forest monk" in a serial.[17]

Selected television serials

  • Batti as Arty Hamu
  • Bigu
  • Ella Langa Waluwa as Arthur Hamu
  • Himi Nathi Wasanthaya
  • Kadulla
  • Kampithavil
  • Kurulu Pihatu as Major seeya
  • Maya Mandira
  • Mihidum Kaluwara as Hamu
  • Nenala
  • Sangramaya
  • Sepalika as Dissanayaka Hamu
  • Sillara Kasi as Thaththa

Filmography

YearFilmRoleRef.
1980KarumakkarayoBaby Mahaththaya
1981Soldadu Unnehe
1981Sagarayak MedaPrison Doctor
1982Sakvithi SuwayaDraftsman
1985Karadiya Walalla
2000Sanda Yahanata
2001Mathu Yam Dawasa
2015Sakkarang
2017Deveni Warama
2019SangiliRalahamy
TBDWasdandu Rawaya[1]
TBDWaasuki[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Lionel Wickrama 1946". films.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  2. ↑ "ප්‍රවීන රංගන ශිල්පී ලයනල් වික්‍රම අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වෙයි". divaina.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "ගීතා ෆිල්ම් එක යට ගහලා කළේ මහා අපරාධයක්". mawratanews.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "Veteran Actor Lionel Wickrama passes away". sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  5. 1 2 "ප්‍රවීණ රංගන ශිල්පි ලයනල් වික්‍රම අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වෙයි". liveat8.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  6. ↑ "Veteran actor Lionel Wickrama passes away". adaderana.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  7. ↑ "ලයනල් වික්‍රම අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වේ". adaderana.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  8. ↑ "Lionel Wickrama passes away". lankadeepa.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  9. ↑ "ප්‍රවීණ රංගන ශිල්පී ලයනල් වික්‍රම අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වෙයි." newsfirst.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  10. ↑ "ප්‍රවීණ රූපණවේදී ලයනල් වික්‍රම දිවිසැරියට සමුදෙයි". sarasaviya.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  11. ↑ "කලා ශිල්පී ලයනල් වික්‍රම අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වේ". aruna.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  12. ↑ "ප්‍රවීණ රංගන ශිල්පී ලයනල් වික්‍රම අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වෙයි". lankadeepa.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  13. ↑ "Dharmasena Pathiraja: "Enfant Terrible" of Sinhala Cinema". dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  14. ↑ "ප්‍රවීණ රංගන ශිල්පී ලයනල් වික්‍රම අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වෙයි". divaina.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  15. ↑ "ප්‍රවීණ රංගන ශිල්පි ලයනල් වික්‍රම අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වෙයි". dailytimes.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  16. ↑ "රංගන ශිල්පී ලයනල් වික්‍රම අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වෙයි". itnnews.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  17. ↑ "'ආටිහාමු පැවිදි බිමට'". lankadeepa.lk. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
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