Astaman

Astaman (also known as Tirtosari; 1903–1980) was an Indonesian actor active from the 1910s until the mid-1970s. He was a leading actor in the influential theatre company Dardanella and, after entering the film industry with 1940's Kartinah, acted in 43 films.

Astaman was born in 1903 in Sidoarjo, East Java, Dutch East Indies, the son of an actor named Wagimin, and his wife, an actress. He attended elementary school there, only to drop out in his third year. At age ten Astaman joined his father's troupe Wagimin & Keluarga, which consisted of his father, mother, and two cousins. Astaman first sold tickets, later taking up acting and touring rural areas in East Java with the troupe. He left the troupe sometime in 1915, first to join the Theater se Souvenir, then the Constantinople Opera .

By the following year Astaman had abandoned Constantinople to join the troupe Dardanella, which was run by the Penang-born actor of Russian descent Willy A. Piedro and his native wife Dewi Dja'. The troupe, which was highly successful and travelled throughout Southeast Asia, helped Astaman rise to prominence. He played various roles with them, and starred in several of their performances, including Andjar Asmara's Dr Samsi and a stage adaptation of Kwee Tek Hoay's Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang. In a 1964 interview with the variety magazine Varia, he recalled that every time he played a king the European viewers would laugh loudly; Astaman later learned that his costume was that of a matador.

Astaman had a son, Lilik Sudjio, in 1930; Lilik would later become a film director. In 1936 he joined Dardanella in a trip to India, hoping to produce a film version of Dr Samsi. This plan collapsed, and Dardanella disbanded: Piedro and Dja' went to America, while Andjar and Ali Joego formed their own troupes and returned to the Indies. Astaman returned separately, going to Kediri. After refusing a position with Njoo Cheong Seng's troupe Fifi Young's Pagoda, Astaman joined the group Tuan Mannuk.

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