Wimal Kumara de Costa
| Wimal Kumara de Costa විමල් කුමාර ද කොස්තා |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
Wimal Kumara de Costa 4 July 1948 Kelaniya |
| Died | 20 November 2016 (aged 68) South General (Teaching) Hospital, Colombo |
| Alma mater | Kelaniya Gurukula Vidyalaya |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1969-2015 |
| Awards | Best Actor of Theatre Drama Festival 1963 |
Wimal Kumara de Costa (විමල් කුමාර ද කොස්තා [Sinhala]) (4 July 1948 – 20 November 2016) was a Sri Lankan actor most notable for his character roles in art films by directors like Dharmasena Pathiraja, Sunil Ariyaratne and Gamini Fonseka. He is cited as the pioneer of Sri Lanka mime industry.
De Costa began his acting career while attending Kelaniya Gurukula School with a role in the play Godo Enakath. Subsequently, he performed in plays such as Dunna Dunna Gamuwe, Hitha Hondha Ammandi, Puttu, Kawuruth Enney Nahay Kora Saha Andhaya and Nattukarayo by W. Jayasiri, Sugathapala de Silva and others.
His first experience with film came with a role in Dharmasena Pathiraja's short Sathuro (1969). His first feature was also a Pathiraja film, Ves Gaththo, released the next year. The Pathiraja collaboration would continue through the rest of the 1970s and early 1980s, yielding some of Wimal's most famous roles such as the socialist in Bambaru Awith (1978), the abusive youth in Eya Dan Loku Lamayek (1977) and the disaffected youth of Ahas Gauwa (1974).
Costa won the Award for the Best actor at 1963 Theatre Drama Festival for the acting in Dunna Dunna Gamuwe.
His critically acclaimed performances in these films led to him becoming a much sought after actor for character roles by other art directors. Sunil Ariyaratne too used him as a whiskey seller in Sarungale (1979) among other roles. Gamini Fonseka featured him in most of his directorial work such as Sagarayek Meda (1981).
In the 1980s, de Costa began to take lighter roles which he had occasionally done in the 1970s to a much smaller extent. This would be the period he began to get lead roles in such films as Silva and Jivithayen Jivithayak.
From the 1990s on he has done mainly small comedic roles in B-movies.
De Costa was attended to Colombo South General (Teaching) Hospital on 19 November 2016, where he died next day by intense respiratory difficulties.
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