Joe Abeywickrama

Joe Abeywickrama(Gammana Patabendige Don John Abeywickrama) is highly versatile actor and legend of the Sri Lankan silver screen. He started off as a comic actor before making a name for his portrayal of character roles.

Joe was born in Lellopitiya, near Ratnapura, on June 22, 1927. His father was Don Darwin Abeywickrama and his mother Udahagedara Manchanona. He was the eldest of four children.

The rural background of his childhood surroundings with the glimpse of Adams' Peak and the values of the village folk had a great impact on Joe's upbringing. He learnt to appreciate nature and hard work. As he once stated, dialects and human expressions were not new to him as they were a part of his everyday existence.

The village environment with its customs, rituals and lifestyles acted as a university for the young lad to gain fundamental education in life and filtered into the roles which he was to give life to in the future.

Abeywickrama is a product of Sivali Central College, Ratnapura. He entered the film world in the 1940s when he settled in Colombo to take up work in Sirisena Wimalaweera's studio Nawajeewana.

Initially limited to doing office chores, Abeywickrama eventually became involved in films screened in Ratnapura by the studio. He made contacts with film industry insiders while with the studio, and on his leave obtained a role in Devasundari in 1955.

The film was shot in Madras, India and it was dubbed in five languages but it failed to create an impact but all was not lost for the upcoming young artiste. He met T. Somasekaran during the shooting of his first film and soon clinched a role in his upcoming film Saradama as an eccentric police officer.

The film was released and proved to be a turning point in his career. Due to his impressive presentation in his second movie he was in demand as a comic actor.