Rendra Karno

Rendra Karno
Rendra Karno, 1954
Born	Raden Soekarno (1920-05-07)7 May 1920 Kutoarjo, Dutch East Indies
Died	27 November 1985(1985-11-27) (aged 65) Jakarta, Indonesia
Occupation	Actor

Raden Soekarno (Perfected Spelling: Sukarno; 7 May 1920 – 27 November 1985), better known as Rendra Karno, was an Indonesian actor. Born in Kutoarjo, Central Java, Soekarno entered the film industry in 1941, making his debut appearance in Union Films' Soeara Berbisa. Over the next forty years he appeared in more than fifty films. He was also involved in the theatre during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies and the Indonesian National Revolution. For his role in 1962's Bajangan di Waktu Fadjar, he was named best supporting actor at the 1963 Asian Film Festival in Tokyo.

Soekarno was born in Kutoarjo, Central Java, on 7 May 1920. The son of a noble priyayi family, he had access to a high level of education, completing his MULO studies before learning bookkeeping. His first job was as the bookkeeper for a cinema.

In 1941, as the domestic film industry was seeking young, educated actors to improve the public perception of cinema, Soekarno was approached by Union Films and cast in their production Soeara Berbisa, a film which told of two men who compete for a woman's love before discovering that they are brothers. He appeared in another film for Union later that year, when he played a young assistant pharmacist in the company's romance Mega Mendoeng (1942). In March 1942, following the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, Union was closed, and Soekarno, though working on an adaptation of the legend Damarwulan, was let go.

Soekarno migrated to theatre, spending most of the occupation with the amateur theatre troupe Maya (under Usmar Ismail), though he did act in a single short propaganda film: Di Menara (1943). Following the surrender of Japan in August 1945, the Dutch colonial forces, supported by the Allies, returned to the Indonesian archipelago. In the ensuing Indonesian National Revolution (1945–1949), Soekarno was active with Fred Young's Bintang Soerabaja professional theatre troupe.