27 Facts About Jayalath Manoratne

Keselgaspe Manatunga Jayalath Manoratne was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television.

Jayalath Manoratne was a lecturer by profession as well as a director and producer.

Jayalath Manoratne was the best actor back to back in 1991 and 1992 for his performance in Socrates and Dvitva.

Jayalath Manoratne is considered by critics as one of the five actors who have dominated the Sri Lankan Stage.

Jayalath Manoratne died on 12 January 2020 while receiving treatment for cancer at the age of 71.

Jayalath Manoratne was born on 12 June 1948 in Dehipe, Nuwara Eliya as the youngest son in the family of six children.

Jayalath Manoratne's father Keselgaspe Manatunga Perera was a lorry driver and his mother Agalakotuwa Herath Mudiyanselage Leela Kumari was a housewife.

Jayalath Manoratne undertook his education at the Dehipe Primary School and Poramadulla Central College.

Jayalath Manoratne has three brothers, Manatunga Seneviratne, Manatunga Wijeratne and Manatunga Ariyaratne and two sisters, Indra Kumari and Mallika Kumari.

Jayalath Manoratne completed his master's degree from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, obtaining a PhD.

Jayalath Manoratne was the only postgraduate to obtain a First Class Degree in 1995.

Jayalath Manoratne was married to Tamara Jayanthi since 1979 to his death.

In 1966 Jayalath Manoratne started acting when he was a school student, making his acting debut in the stage drama Aspha Gudung, which was selected for the finals of the annual provincial inter-school drama competition and won the Certificate of Excellence in Performance at the All Island Inter-School Drama Competition.

Originally playing minor roles in plays as Maname, Sinhabahu under Sarachchandra's guidance, Jayalath Manoratne embarked on a mainstream acting career, beginning with the operatic play Premato Jayati Soko with the role "Uddala Bamuna".

Jayalath Manoratne went to Nuwara Eliya Kachcheri to get a job and at that time, he produced remakes of Sarachchandra's plays Raththaran and Elowa Gihin Melowa Awa.

Jayalath Manoratne has acted under all the five major stage drama directors in Sri Lankan history - Sarachchandra, Sugathapala de Silva, Dayananda Gunawardena, Gunasena Galappatty and Henry Jayasena.

Jayalath Manoratne continuously produced plays of many genres in following years including Kaneru Mal, Lokaya Thani Yayak, Makara remake, Sudu Redi Horu, Buruwa Mahaththaya, Sellam Nirindu and Handa Nihanda.

From that time on Jayalath Manoratne acted in over 80 plays, and directed eleven plays of his own.

In 2014, Jayalath Manoratne performed in a theater festival named Dawas Pahalos Daha, which showcased a collection of eight plays representing different periods and issues and produced by Jayalath Manoratne himself.

Jayalath Manoratne started his television career with the drama Aebeddiya of Parakrama Niriella.

Jayalath Manoratne became popular in comedy roles in Bodima and then in Ramya Suramya.

In 2005, Jayalath Manoratne played triple roles for the first time in Sri Lankan teledrama history in a miniplay directed and scripted by himself, titled Thunpath Ratawaka Lassana.

Jayalath Manoratne directed single episode miniplays such as Bappage Paminima, Aege Awurudda, Raja Thun Kattuwa, Nidahasa, Seettuwa, Denna Demallo, Sathuru Mithuru, Duppathunda Adaraya Karathi, Santhapaya and Buddha Puthra.

Jayalath Manoratne continued to take medical treatment from Apeksha Cancer Hospital, Maharagama since mid 2019.

Jayalath Manoratne started his cinema career with a minor role in Thilaka and Thilaka in 1979.

Jayalath Manoratne was a recipient of Kalasuri and Kala Keerthi due to his enormous contribution to the drama career.

Jayalath Manoratne has won several awards at the local stage drama festivals and television festivals, both for acting and direction.