Veteran actor Tony Ranasinghe passed away this morning at a private hospital in Colombo.

 

Ranasinghe Hettiarachchilage Ignatius Anthony Silva who later became popular as Tony Ranasinghe was born in July 31, 1937 in Modara. Educated at St. Anthony's College, Wattala and De LaSalle College, Modera, he broke into stage drama and films in the 1960s.

 

Ranasinghe began his career in theatre with a role in Ran Thodu in 1963 which won him the Governor General's Award for Best Stage Actor. His maiden film role was in Lester James Peiris's adaptation of Martin Wickremesingha's novel Gamperaliya.

 

Ranasinghe was awarded the Best Supporting Actor Sarasaviya Award in 1966 for his role in Parasathu Mal. Subsequently he won Best Actor Awards for Hanthane Kathawa (1969), Duhulu Malak (1976) and Ahasin Polawata (1979). In 1980 he played the father of the protagonist in Ganga Addara. 1993's Saptha Kanya won him Best Actor Awards from Sarasaviya, Swarna Sanka, Presidential and OCIC. Ranasinghe has dabbled in screenplay writing winning Sarasaviya Awards for Koti Waligaya, Keli Mandala, Awaragira (1995) and Pavuru Walalu.