Sathischandra Edirisinghe

Patikirige Sathischandra Edirisinghe (born 11 February 1941 as Patikirige Sathischandra Edirisinghe, සතිස්චන්ද්‍ර එදිරිසිංහ) [Sinhala] is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television.

Considered one of the earliest pillars of Sri Lankan drama history, Edirisinghe is noted as a highly versatile actor with a career spanning more than five decades.

He is a recipient of life time awards at many award ceremonies.

Sathischandra Edirisinghe was born on 11 February 1941 in Kelaniya as the sixth child of the family.

His father is late Patikirige Edirisinghe was a Chief Supervisor of the Department of Cottage Industries.

Mother is late Ushettige Elizabeth Perera was a housewife.

He has one elder brother, late Dharmasiri, four elder sisters - Techla Sandaseelee, late Florida Katherine, Mershia Sirima and Mary Elizabeth and two younger brothers - Nimal Ranjith and Sunil.

Youngest of the family, Sunil is a singer in Sri Lankan music industry.

Sathischandra Edirisinghe completed his education from five schools.

Sriya was born on November 7, 1941, to Baron Perera Kariyapperuma who worked as a clerk and Sumanawathie Cooray.

She was the eldest of the ten siblings in her family.

She had her education at Sri Dharmaloka College, Kelaniya, where she met Sathischandra Edirisinghe.

She also had a keen interest on drama, where she acted in many school stage dramas, directed by Sathischandra.

The couple has three children - Udaya, Shashini and Udara.

Elderst son, Udaya Shashipriya studied at S. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa.

He currently handles his own business called "U and I Ceylon (Pvt) Ltd.".

Second one is the daughter, Shashini who studied at St. Paul's Balika Maha Vidyalaya, Kelaniya.

She is a B.Com graduate and currently resides in Australia.

Youngest one is Udara Asanga, studied at Royal College, Colombo.

He is interested in textile and fashion designing in Australia, All are married.

Edirisinghe started to show his talents when he is at Sri Dharmaloka Central College.

His first teacher was Ravilal Wimaladharma, who had keen interest on literature and music.

At grade 5, he tried to act Madduma Bandara at home, which is a drama in his literature book.

After Wimaladharma saw his capabilities, Edirisinghe was appointed as in-charge of the stage play Sudo Sudu in the school.

He started preschool career with Sir D. B. Jayatilaka Vidyalaya, then entered to Sri Dharmaloka College, Kelaniya in 1947.

In 1953, he joined Lamapitiya program in Radio Ceylon.

For role in Anton Chekhov’s Proposal at Inter-school drama competition, Edirisinghe adjudged the Best Actor of the Southern Province.

After ten years in the school, Edirisinghe then moved to St. Mary's College, Elpitiya in 1958 to completed A/L from art stream.

In 1960, he entered Stafford College and in 1964, he completed his secondary education from Vidyodaya Pirivena, Maligakanda.

In 1961, he started his stage drama career where his elder brother, Dharmasiri Edirisinghe introduced him to Kala Guru J. D. A. Perera.

In 1963, he started his first direction and production of stage dramas with the play Baka Thapas.

In 1965, he married Kariyapperuma Arachchige Sriya Kariyapperuma.

His one of memorable theater acting came through Henry Jayasena's Manaranjana Vedavarjana in 1965.

Edirisinghe is considered one of the pioneer actors in Sri Lankan teledrama history.

His maiden television acting came through Lucien Bulathsinhala's Ekamawakage Daruwo in 1982.

In that drama, he played the main role as a school principal.

He played in many popular films of the early stage of Sri Lankan television such as, Mihikathage Daruwo, Tharadevi and Palingu Menike.

In 1999, after the service in CTB and Mahaweli Authority, he became a full time artist.

His peak as a theater actor came through his role in John de Silva's stage play Wessanthara.

With wider recognition, he was able to cooperate with country's leading script writers such as Gunasena Galappathi, Dayananda Gunawardane, Henry Jayasena, Sugathapala de Silva, R.R. Samarakoon, Sunanda Mahendra, Ranjit Dharmakeerthi, S. Karunaratne, Lucien Bulathsinghala and Dhamma Jagoda.