ජෝ අබේවික්රම නමැති අග්රගණ්ය සිනමා නළුවා ගේ 99 වැනි ජන්ම දිනය 2026 ජුනි මස 22 වැනිදාට යෙදී තිබේ. 1927 ජුනි මස 22 වැනි දින රත්නපුර ලෙල්ලොපිටිය ග්රාමයේ දී උපත ලද ගම්මන පටබැඳීගේ දොන් ජෝන් අබේවික්රම වන ඔහුට ජෝන් යන නම යොදා ඇත්තේ ජෝ අබේවික්රමගේ පියාණන් ඉතාමත් ගරු කළ ජෝන් ඩොයිලි…
Joe Abeywickrama, the great film actor, will celebrate his 99th birthday on June 22, 2026.
Born on June 22, 1927 in Lellopitiya village, Ratnapura as Gammana Patabandige Don John Abeywickrama, Joe Abeywickrama once stated in a press conference that he was named after the famous English national government agent John Doyle, whom Joe Abeywickrama's father greatly respected.
Nanda Abeywickrama and Missy Abeywickrama are Joe Abeywickrama's elder sisters. His only brother is Alan Abeywickrama. Joe Abeywickrama passed away on September 21, 2011.
Joe Abeywickrama received his primary education from Lellopitiya Mixed School in his hometown and later completed his secondary education from Seevali Central College, Ratnapura and St. Aloysius College, Ratnapura.
His wife is Pushpa Kumari Ratnayake. His eldest daughter is Udeni Kumari Abeywickrama and his youngest son is Channa Abeywickrama.
During his lifetime, he acted in 163 Sinhala films and 172 other productions, including teledramas, of which he played the lead role in 62 Sinhala films and played the supporting role in 110 films.
Joe began his film career in 1955, appearing in a comic role in the film ‘Devasundari’ directed by M.H. Munas.
But the first film he acted in was the film 'Saradham' directed by T. Somasekaran. In it, Joe Abeywickrama played the role of a police officer and Florida Jayalath also supported him.
Accordingly, from the film 'Saradham', which was released in 1957, to his last film, 'Abhinikmana', which was released in 2013, Joe Abeywickrama has contributed to 163 film productions by portraying characters.
Joe Abeywickrama also acted in the film 'Sri 256' directed by Premnath Moraes in 1956, and it is noteworthy that it is the only film in which Tina Fonseka, the wife of cinema legend Gamini Fonseka, contributed to a film role.
Among the notable films of the early era in which he acted are Sirimali, Nalagana, Pirumuyek Nisa, Ranmuthu Duwa, Gatavarayo, Chandiya, Torawala Kageda.
Joe Abeywickrama first joined Gamini Fonseka in the film ‘Ranmuthu Duwa’ in 1962. It was the first color film in Sri Lanka. Joe Abeywickrama has won forty awards at local and international film awards. Joe received his first Sarasavi Award that year for his role as Saraya in the film ‘Saravita’ released in 1965.
After that, he received the Sarasavi Award for the role of Semaneris in the film ‘Gatawarayo’ and the role of Golu Sarvay in the film ‘Sandol Kandulu’ as the best actor.
In 1970, Joe won the Sarasavi Award for his performance in Mahagama Sekara's film 'Thunman Handiya' and in 1971, he won many awards for his role as Goring Mudalali in D.B. Nihalsinghe's film 'Welikathara', which was released.
It is a special fact that the film Welikathara remains one of the best films in Sri Lanka to this day.
The role of 'Nirudaka' in the film 'Desanisa' in 1975 is another souvenir from his film collection. Joe Abeywickramayan won the hearts of the audience in his early days as a film actor as a joker or comedian.
It took Joe Abeywickramayan a long time to overcome that situation and emerge as a true character actor. After the role of Saraiya in the film ‘Saravita’ released in 1965, Joe Abeywickrama successfully proved himself to be an actor with excellent acting skills.
After that, it took Joe another five years until Mahagama Sekara’s ‘Thunmanhandiya’ was released to prove to the audience that he was an excellent actor in character acting. Born in a rural environment, Joe had no difficulty in entering the soul of the character of Abilinga, a village painter, who was the main character in Thunmanhandiya.
Critics believe that the role of Goring Mudalali in D.B. Nihalsinghe’s film ‘Welikatara’ released in 1971, the first CinemaScope feature film or the largest widescreen feature film in Hela cinema, was the turning point in Joe’s acting career.
However, at the end of the film Welikathaara, Joe Abeywickramayan had said that the fact that Goring Mudalali was hit by a bullet and made to flee like a coward instead of being defeated was not the end he had hoped for when he joined the film.
Although Joe missed out on his first chance to become a hero in popular cinema, Anton's powerful performance in Dharmasena Pathiraja's 1978 film 'Bambaru Aetha' was a great moment in Joe's film career.
In Dharmasena Pathiraja's 1981 film 'Soldadu Unnahe', the old soldier is a character who served as a mercenary for the imperialists during World War II and became mentally unstable and ended up on the streets.
Joe Abeywickrama, who played the complex character of Wannihami in the film ‘Pura Handa Kaluwara’, also won the Best Actor award at the 12th Singapore International Film Awards. Among his last films, ‘Selvam’ was a film depicting the separatist war.
In 1982, Joe also won the Sarasavi Award for his role as Silindu in the film ‘Beddegama’ directed by Lester James Peiris. Joe Abeywickrama also appeared in the English films Peter of the Elephants and The Three Yellow Cats during the same period.
During the 1960s and 1962s, Joe Abeywickrama acted in several stage plays such as ‘Mal Yahanawa’, ‘Barisil’ and ‘Kelemal’. In addition, Joe was involved in several television dramas. ‘Andukola’, ‘Vanaspathi’, ‘Gamperaliya’, ‘Sakisanda Elias’ and ‘Asala Kaluwara’ were the teledramas.
The only teledrama for which he wrote the script was ‘Sabanda Publicis’. The song sung by Anton Jude in that drama, “Unapuruke Balu Valige Daali Tuthut Ne Ude Aarene”, became extremely popular.
Joe Abeywickrama's first song was "Vel Uthala" in the 2004 teledrama 'Tahanchi', which he produced himself.
He also wrote a TV series called 'Sakisanda Elias'.
The first and only novel written by Joe Abeywickrama was published in 1972 under the title 'Maha Bambata Mauk Dekai'.
He also won the Best Asian Actor Award at the 1999 Singapore International Film Festival for his leading role in the film 'Pura Handa Kaluwara'.
The "Sarasavi Awards" received by Joe Abeywickrama are as follows:
1965 ‘Getavarayo’ Merit Award, 1966 ‘Saravita’ Best Actor Award, 1982 ‘Beddegama’ Best Actor Award, 1983 ‘Malata Noena Bambaru Best Actor Award’, 1986 Ranathisara Award for Cinematic Contribution, 1987 ‘Maldeniye Simeon’ Best Actor Award, 1991 ‘Pala Yata’ Best Supporting Actor Award, 1992 ‘Golu Mejadiya Samthawak’ Best Actor Award, 1993 ‘Umayangana’ Best Actor Award, 1997 ‘Bithusithuwam’ Best Actor Award and 2001 ‘Pura Handa Kaluwara’ Best Actor Award.
Among the Presidential Awards bestowed upon Joe Abeywickrama were the 1979 ‘Bambaru Aetha’ Merit Award, the 1980 ‘A Day in Spring’ Best Supporting Actor Award, the 1981 ‘Siribo Aiya’ Best Actor Award, the 1982 ‘Beddegama’ Best Actor Award and the 1983 Best Actor Award for the film ‘Malaata Nonena Bambaru’, the 1999 U.W. Sumathipala Award for Sri Lankan Acting Contribution and the 2000 Best Teledrama Actor Award for the teledrama ‘Imadiya Mankada’.
Joe Abeywickramayan won the Best Asian Actor Award for the film 'Pura Handa Kaluwara' at the Singapore International Film Festival and became the first film actor to participate in the Filmfare Awards ceremony held in India in 1966.
Joe Abeywickramayan was also awarded the honorary title of Deshabandhu by the then government.
Ranjan Gamini Jayawardena