Showing posts with label 1917. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1917. Show all posts

Saturday, 12 March 2022

GOOGIE WITHERS ,ENGLISH ACTRESS BORN 1917 MARCH 12 -2011 JULY 15

 

GOOGIE WITHERS ,ENGLISH ACTRESS 

BORN 1917 MARCH 12 -2011 JULY 15



Georgette Lizette Withers, CBE, AO (12 March 1917 – 15 July 2011), known professionally as Googie Withers, was an English entertainer who was a dancer and actress with a lengthy career spanning some nine decades in theatre, film, and television. She was a well-known actress and star of British films during the Second World War and postwar years.

She often starred in British productions, primarily in films with actor and producer John McCallum, whom she married, and together they emigrated in the late 1950s to her husband's native Australia, where they became best known in theatre, although she would play prison governor Faye Boswell in the TV series Within These Walls during the 1970s and continued to feature in films.[2]


Biography[edit]

Withers was born in Karachi, British India (now Pakistan), to Edgar Withers, a captain in the Royal Navy, and a mother of Dutch French German descent, Lizette Wilhelmina Katarina.[3][4][5] She was named after her aunt Georgette Ottolina, but was fondly given the name "Googie" (Little Pigeon) at a young age by her Indian ayah (nanny), in which she became used to and decided to stick with professionally.[6] As a child, she showed interest in learning the Urdu language.[citation needed]

Her father left the Royal Navy to manage a foundry in Birmingham, England, UK, and Googie was sent to a boarding school near Dover and a secondary day school in London[3]




Acting career[edit]

She began acting at the age of twelve. A student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, and at the dance school of Buddy Bradley, where she learnt baller and tap, she was a dancer in a West End production when she was offered work initially as a film extra in Michael Powell's The Girl in the Crowd (1935). She arrived on the set to find one of the major players in the production had been dismissed, and she was immediately asked to step into the leading role in her place, beginning a seven year contract with Warner Brothers, after which she worked for studios Fox British, Eling Studios and The Rank Organisation.[7]

During the 1930s, Withers was constantly in demand in lead roles in minor films and supporting roles in more prestigious productions. She was in Windfall (1935) and The Love Test (1935) and she had the lead in All at Sea (1935).

Withers supported in Dark World (1935), King of Hearts (1936), and Accused (1936). Her Last Affaire (1935) was her third film with Powell.

Withers followed it with She Knew What She Wanted (1936), Crown v. Stevens (1936) (directed by Powell), Crime Over London (1936), Pearls Bring Tears (1937), Action for Slander (1937), and Paradise for Two (1937).

She had the lead in You're the Doctor (1938) and was back to support for Kate Plus Ten (1938). Her best known work of the period was as one of Margaret Lockwood's friends in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938).

Withers kept in support roles in Paid in Error (1938) and Strange Boarders (1938). She was in a Will Hay film Convict 99 (1938) and supported Jack Buchanan in The Gang's All Here (1939). Then she appeared in crime films Murder in Soho (1939) and Dead Men are Dangerous (1939).

She supported George Formby in Trouble Brewing (1939) and Tommy Trinder in She Couldn't Say No (1939). She was in a Robert Montgomery film Busman's Honeymoon (1939) and was reunited with Buchanan in Bulldog Sees It Through (1940). She was still supporting comics in Back-Room Boy (1942) with Arthur Askey.




Rising fame[edit]

Among her successes of the 1940s, and a departure from her previous roles, was the Powell and Pressburger film One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942), a topical World War II drama in which she played a Dutch resistance fighter who helps British airmen return to safety from behind enemy lines.[8]

Powell and Pressburger then used her in a film they produced but did not direct, The Silver Fleet (1943). She played Helen, a significant second lead in the Clive Book directed 1944 comedy On Approval.

Withers was in They Came to a City (1945) directed by Basil Dearden and was one of several stars in Dead of Night (1945).

Withers was given a star part in Pink String and Sealing Wax (1945). It was well received and Withers was given the title role in The Loves of Joanna Godden (1947), which was a hit. In the cast was actor John McCallum whom Withers later married. They remained married until McCallum died in 2010.[9]

Withers then starred in It Always Rains on Sunday (1948) which was one of the biggest hits of the year. In 1948 British exhibitors voted her the 8th most popular British star in the country.[10][11]

Three comedies followed: the hugely popular Miranda (1948) with McCallum, and Once Upon a Dream (1949) and Traveller's Joy (1949), both directed by Ralph Thomas. Next she was third billed after Hollywood stars Gene Tierney and Richard Widmark in the tense thriller Night and the City (1950).[12]

Withers took 13 months off for the birth of her first child, then returned to star as a doctor in White Corridors (1951), one of the most popular films of the year in Britain.[13][14] She was one of many cameos in The Magic Box (1951) and was in a play Winter Journey.[15]

Withers made three films with her husband, Derby Day (1952), Devil on Horseback (1954), and Port of Escape (1956).

In 1954 she starred with McCallum in the West End play Waiting for Gillian by Ronald Millar.

Australia[edit]

Withers first toured Australia in the stage play Simon and Laura. When McCallum was offered the position running J.C. Williamson theatres, they moved to Australia in 1959. Withers starred in a number of stage plays, including Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea, Desire of the Moth, The First 400 Years (with Keith Michell), The Circle,[16] A. R. Gurney's The Cocktail Hour, Time and the Conways, The Importance of Being Earnest, Beekman Place (for which she also designed the set) (1965),[17] The Kingfisher, Stardust, Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and Wilde's An Ideal Husband for the Melbourne Theatre Company; both productions toured Australia. They appeared together in the UK in The School for Scandal at the Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End and on the subsequent British Council tour of Europe in 1983–84 and in W. Somerset Maugham's The Circle at the Chichester Festival Theatre.[citation needed]

Withers starred on Broadway with Michael Redgrave in The Complaisant Lover and in London with Alec Guinness in Exit the King.

Later career[edit]

Withers returned to films with the lead in Nickel Queen (1971), directed by McCallum.

She was in The Cherry Orchard (1974) on Australian TV.

In 1974, she appeared as Faye Boswell, the original governor of a women's prison, in the television series Within These Walls. Because Within These Walls had been a moderate success in Australia, she was approached by producers to play the role of the Governor in the Australian version titled Prisoner, although she declined, and the role was given to Patsy King.

Withers starred in the BBC adaptation of Hotel du Lac (1986), which was followed a year later by another BBC production of Northanger Abbey.

In 1989, she appeared at Brighton in England in The Cocktail Hour alongside her husband John and her daughter, Joanna - the play a success from New York starring Nancy Marchand, the previous year. In 1990, she appeared in ITV's adaptation of Ending Up. Her last screen performance was as the Australian novelist Katharine Susannah Prichard in the film Shine (1996), for which she and the other cast members were nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award for "Outstanding performance by a cast".

In 2002, aged 85, Withers appeared with Vanessa Redgrave in Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan in London's West End.

In October 2007, aged 90 and 89 respectively, Withers and McCallum appeared in an extended interview with Peter Thompson on ABC TV's Talking Heads programme.[6]

Death[edit]

Withers died on 15 July 2011 at her Sydney home, aged 94. Her husband, actor, television producer and studio executive John McCallum predeceased her on 3 February 2010.[18][19]

Honours[edit]

Withers was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for services to drama, in the 1980 Australia Day Honours List.[20] In the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours List (UK), she was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Withers was a JC Williamson Award recipient for lifetime achievement in 1999.[21] In 1992 Googie Withers and John McCallum were founding patrons and active supporters of the Tait Memorial Trust in London. A Charity established by Isla Baring OAM, the daughter of Sir Frank Tait of J. C. Williamson's to support young Australian performing artists in the UK.[22]

She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1971 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews, whilst thinking she was going to be interviewed by her close friend Godfrey Winn. Although she knew Andrews, when he appeared as she entered the set, she asked him why he was no longer working as a presenter and was instead working as a floor manager.[23]

Selected filmography[edit]

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Sunday, 23 January 2022

Patricia Dane born August 4, 1917 – June 5, 1995 , an American film actress of the 1940s.

 

Patricia Dane born August 4, 1917 – June 5, 1995

 an American film actress of the 1940s.


Patricia Dane (born Thelma Patricia Pippins, August 4, 1917 – June 5, 1995)[1] was an American film actress of the 1940s.



Early life

Dane was born Thelma Patricia Pippins to William Pippins and Emma F. Montford. Sources differ as to her birth year (1917 - 1919) and birthplace (Jacksonville, Florida or Blountstown, Florida).[2][3] She was later known as Thelma Patricia Burns and Thelma Patricia Byrnes after her mother's second husband, whose surname was Burns. She attended the University of Alabama for almost three years. In 1938 she moved to New York, where she worked as a model for a dress design firm.[4] During this period she met industrialist and film industry executive Howard Hughes, who encouraged her to move to Los Angeles and helped her find an apartment there.[5][6]


Career

Dane was signed to a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract in 1941. As she gained attention in Hollywood, gossip columnists Louella Parsons and Jimmy Fidler both noted her strong resemblance to Hedy Lamarr, who was also under contract to MGM.[7] Dane's earliest appearances were two uncredited roles in Ziegfeld Girl and I'll Wait for You (both 1941). She played the part of "Jennitt Hicks" in Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941) and her well-received performance earned her a long-term contract. Dane played "Garnet" in Johnny Eager (1942) directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The film starred Robert Taylor and Lana Turner. Dane received favorable press for her acting in Grand Central Murder (1942), in which she was billed second to Van Heflin.[8]






Patricia Dane in Yank, the Army Weekly


Dane married bandleader Tommy Dorsey in Las Vegas on April 8, 1943.[9] Dorsey did not want his wife to work, and she took a break from her film career.[10] Her MGM contract lapsed in 1945.


Dorsey's biographer described both parties to the marriage as temperamental.[11] Their union was said to be "tempestuous from the start."[12] They separated three times before Dane filed for divorce on July 3, 1947, citing "extreme mental cruelty" and Dorsey's constant travel with his touring orchestra. However, the divorce was essentially amicable, and they had various rendezvous in the years ahead.[13]


Following her divorce, Dane resumed her movie career at the low-budget Monogram Pictures studio[14] with Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad (1948). Her final film appearances were uncredited parts in Road to Bali (1952) and The Harder They Fall (1956).[15]





Later life

Tommy Dorsey died in 1956. He left Dane a $26,000 insurance policy after she informed him that she was unable to work due to injuries sustained in a 1956 boating accident.[16][17] In 1973 she returned to Blountstown, where she lived with her mother and worked as a librarian. She never remarried.[18][19]


Born August 4, 1919 in Blountstown, Florida, USA

Died June 5, 1995 in Blountstown, Florida, USA  (lung cancer)

Birth Name Thelma Patricia Ann Pippen

Mini Bio (1)

Resembling Hedy Lamarr with her brunet sultry looks, beautiful second-string actress Patricia Dane possessed a rough and rowdy exterior, which worked much better for her in front of the camera than off of it. Born Thelma Patricia Ann Pippen in Jacksonville, Florida, her father died shortly after her birth and the infant was placed in the care, for a time, of her grandparents. When her mother remarried a man named Byrnes, young Thelma went back to live with her and was raised with the new name of Thelma Byrnes.


Following graduation from Andrew Jackson High School in Jacksonville, Patricia entered the University of Alabama. She moved to New York in 1938 with the intentions of being a fashion designer, but her dark-eyed beauty instead led her to instant money with modeling jobs. This opened a few doors and she quickly got caught up in the New York whirlwind "high life," becoming known around town as a feisty party girl.


Cast in her first role as a well-endowed Ziegfeld Girl in MGM's splashy, musical aptly named Ziegfeld Girl (1941), the studio immediately signed her up. She made minor impressions in Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941) and as gangster Robert Taylor's girl in Johnny Eager (1941), which led to co-star billing in the "B" films Grand Central Murder (1942), as a volatile, cold-hearted actress who meets a nasty end, _Northwest Rangers (1942) and _Manhattan Melodrama (1942)_.


Patricia was squired about town with a number of eligible bachelors but on April 8, 1943 she became Mrs. Tommy Dorsey. Following a role in the Red Skelton vehicle I Dood It (1943), she left films per the renowned bandleader's insistence. The marriage was stormy to say the least, with some grand knockout fights that made headlines as both were pretty wild tipplers (she would often refer themselves as "The New Battling Bogarts"). This marriage had little chance for survival and on August 26, 1947 it was finished. She never remarried.


Patricia could now return to films and did so with the minor entries Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad (1948) and Are You with It? (1948). Nothing came of it. She made more unattractive news in 1949 when she and MGM actor Robert Walker were arrested for driving erratically, public drunkenness and resisting arrest. After this, all she could find were unbilled parts in Road to Bali (1952) and A Life of Her Own (1950).


Moving to Blountsown, Florida, Patricia's life quieted down considerably becoming, of all things, a librarian in town. She died completely out of the limelight of lung cancer on June 5, 1995.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net


Family (1)

Spouse Tommy Dorsey (8 April 1943 - 26 August 1947)  (divorced)

Julian Lang (1938 - 1939)  (divorced)

Trivia (3)

Signed to MGM in 1941. Admired by fellow actors after she brusquely told off an MGM studio executive. Changed name to Pat after this incident but only starred in minor roles and bit parts after 1945.

According to Laura Wagner, whose article on Patricia appeared in the magazine Films of the Golden Age, Issue #79, Winter 2014-2015, MGM wanted to change her name at one point to Sandra Sherwood. Louis B. Mayer tried but failed to groom her as a brunette Jean Harlow.

On August 5, 1944, at one of Patricia Dane and Tommy Dorsey's parties, a fight broke out between Tommy and actor Jon Hall over Patricia, who also got into the fight. More people got into the fight, including actor Edward Norris, and both Dorsey and Dane wound up being arrested for felonious assault. Hall lost a portion of his nose by a knife probably wielded by Dane. With suits and counter suits in full wing, all charges were dismissed.

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Tuesday, 17 August 2021

RUSHYENDRA MANI TELUGU ACTRESS BORN 1917 JANUARY 1-2002 AUGUST 17

 RUSHYENDRA MANI TELUGU ACTRESS BORN 

1917 JANUARY 1-2002 AUGUST 17




ருஷ்யேந்திரமணி (தெலுங்கு: ఋஷியேந்தராமணி; 1 ஜனவரி 1917 - 17 ஆகஸ்ட் 2002) ஒரு இந்தியப் பாடகி, நடனக் கலைஞர் மற்றும் தென்னிந்தியாவைச் சேர்ந்த பிரபல மேடை/திரைப்பட நடிகை மற்றும் பின்னணிப் பாடகி. [1] 1935 முதல் 1986 வரை தெலுங்கு, தமிழ், கன்னடம், மலையாளம் மற்றும் இந்திப் படங்களில் 150 க்கும் மேற்பட்ட படங்களில் நடித்தார்.

ஆரம்ப கால வாழ்க்கை

அவர் ஜனவரி 1, 1917 அன்று விஜயவாடாவில் பிறந்தார். இந்திய பாரம்பரிய இசை மரபுகளில் பயிற்சி பெற்ற பாடகி மற்றும் பயிற்சி பெற்ற குச்சிப்புடி மற்றும் பரதநாட்டிய நடனக் கலைஞர், அவர் தனது ஏழு வயதில் மேடையில் தனது வாழ்க்கையைத் தொடங்கினார். அவள் பத்து வயதில் கிருஷ்ணன் மற்றும் பிரஹலாதனின் கவசத்தை அணிந்தாள். பின்னர் அவர் கொம்முரி பட்டாபி ராமையாவின் லட்சுமி விலாச நாடக சபையில் சேர்ந்தார். கப்புலவை இராமநாத சாஸ்திரி, புவூல ராமதிலகம் ஆகியோரின் கீழ் பயிற்சி பெற்று சிந்தாமணி மற்றும் சாவித்திரி நாடகங்களில் நடித்தார்.





அவர் வெள்ளித்திரைக்கு நகர்ந்து ஸ்ரீராஜ துலாபரத்தில் சத்யபாமாவாக நடித்தார், இது 1935 இல் ராஜாராவ் நாயுடு தயாரித்தது. இது வணிக ரீதியான தோல்வி, ஆனால் அவர் பாடும் மற்றும் நடிப்பு திறமைக்காக பாராட்டுகளைப் பெற்றார். அவர் கடாரு நாகபூஷணம் மற்றும் பசுபுலேதி கண்ணம்பாவின் ராஜராஜேஸ்வரி நாட்டிய மண்டலத்தில் சேர்ந்தார் மற்றும் ஆந்திரா, கர்நாடகா, மகாராஷ்டிரா, ஒரிசா மற்றும் தமிழ்நாடு முழுவதும் சுற்றுப்பயணம் செய்தார். ரங்கூன் ரவுடியில் பிரபாவதி மற்றும் சாவித்திரியில் நாரதராக நடித்ததற்காக அவர் பாராட்டுகளைப் பெற்றார். அவளது புகழ் மற்றும் நடிப்புத் திறமை இவருக்கு 'ராயலசீமா ராணி' என்று முடிசூட்டின.


1939 இல் ஜவ்வாடி ராமகிருஷ்ண ராவ் நாயுடுவை மணந்தார், பல மேடை நாடகங்களுக்கு இசையமைத்த ஒரு சிறந்த இசைக்கலைஞரும் இசையமைப்பாளருமான அவர் அவருடன் மெட்ராஸ் சென்றார். ராமகிருஷ்ண ராவ் தமிழ் திரைப்படமான மாத்ரு பூமியில் இசை அமைப்பாளராக பணியாற்றினார். அந்த காலத்தின் பல நடிகர்களைப் போலவே, அவளும் ஒரு சிறந்த பாடகி. [2]





அவரது முதல் படம் ஸ்ரீ கிருஷ்ண துலாபாராம் (1935), அங்கு அவர் சத்யபாமா வேடத்தில் நடித்தார். அவர் தமிழ் காவியமான சிலப்பதிகாரத்தை அடிப்படையாகக் கொண்டு கண்ணகியாக பாட்னி (1942) இல் நடித்தார். கோவலன் கதாபாத்திரத்தை கே எஸ் பிரகாஷ் ராவ் நடித்தார். இந்த படத்தின் வெற்றியுடன், அவர் திரைப்பட உலகில் உச்சத்தை அடைந்தார். செஞ்சு லட்சுமியில் அவர் ஆதிலட்சுமியாக நடித்தார், அதுவும் வெற்றி பெற்றது. மல்லீஸ்வரி, விப்ரா நாராயணா, மாயா பஜார், ஜகதேக வீருணி கதை, அக்கி ராமுடு, ஸ்ரீ கிருஷ்ண சத்யா, பாண்டுரங்க மஹத்யம், மற்றும் பல்வேறு கதாபாத்திரங்களை சித்தரித்த சீதா ராம ஜனனம். அனைத்து முக்கிய தென்னிந்திய மொழிகளிலும், ஹிந்தியிலும் 150 க்கும் மேற்பட்ட திரைப்படங்களுடன், அவர் பாடும் திறமைக்காக கார்வேதிநகரத்தின் ராஜாவினால் 'மதுர கான சரஸ்வதி' என்ற பட்டத்தை பெற்றார். 1974 ஆம் ஆண்டு கன்னடப் படமான பூதய்யனா மக அய்யூவில் தனது பேத்தி மகள் பவானியுடன் நடித்தார், அங்கு பவானி சிறந்த நடிகை விருதை வென்றார் மற்றும் ருஷ்யேந்திரமி சிறந்த துணை நடிகருக்கான விருதை வென்றார்.



அவர் 17 ஆகஸ்ட் 2002 அன்று சென்னையில் இறந்தார். அவள் இரண்டு மகள்கள் மற்றும் ஒரு மகன், பேரக்குழந்தைகள் மற்றும் பெரிய பேரக்குழந்தைகளைக் கொண்டிருந்தாள்

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Tuesday, 27 July 2021

KANCHANAMALA, THE FIRST BIKINI ACTRESS IN TELUGU CINEMA BORN 1917 MARCH 5 - 1981 JANUARY 24

 

KANCHANAMALA, THE FIRST 

BIKINI ACTRESS IN TELUGU  CINEMA 

BORN 1917 MARCH 5 - 1981 JANUARY 24




Kanchanamala MARCH 5,1917–JANUARY 24,1981) was an Indian actress known for her works in Telugu cinema.[1][ 

Personal life[edit]

She was born in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh. During her childhood days, she went to live with her uncle who was a violin teacher. She was married to Gali Venkaiah, who died of tuberculosis.[ 


Career[edit]

Kanchanamala and Umamaheswara Rao in Illalu (1940)

She started her film career in Srikrishna Tulabharam, in a minor role as Mitravinda in 1935. The film was based on a play by Telugu cinema's first lyricist Chandala Kesava Dasu. Relangi Venkataramaiah played a bit role in the movie.

She captured the audience with her beauty and played lead roles in films such as Veerabhimanyu, Gruhalakshmi and Malapilla.

During his stint as a production director with Vel Pictures, Ramabrahmam felt that she was not fit for acting and rejected her. As she rose in her career, he realised he was wrong and signed her for the harijan village girl Sampalatha in Malapilla, based on Gudipaati Venkata Chalam's unpublished novelette. Sceptics commented that she was a misfit for such a complex character. But she rendered a scintillating performance in the first half as an illiterate downtrodden village belle and as the literate modern city woman in the later portions.


Her next role was as Uthara in Veerabhimanyu (1936) produced by Sagar Movietone in Bombay. Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao debuted as a screenwriter with this film. Mesmerised by her beauty, Jaddan Bai, actor and producer and mother of Hindi cinema's most elegant actress, Nargis, asked her to act in Hindi films. Mehaboob Khan and popular hero of the time Motilal also told her to learn Hindi so that they could make her a big star in Hindi cinema. Kanchanamal, still a teenager, spurned their offers. Her third starring role, Vipra Narayana catapulted her to stardom.

In Vandemataram, Chittoor Subrahmanya Pillai's Madhuranagarilo challanamma bodhu was used as a duet rendered by Nagaiah and Kanchanamala. Under the production of Gemini Movies, Kanchanamala signed a contract for the role of Nagamma in the movie Bala nagamma which included clause to work only under Gemini movies. During the filming of the movie, she had differences with the director and producer S. S. Vasan which led to legal entanglement. Unable to work in movies outside Gemini movies and having lost her husband caused despair and led to mental imbalance.

She later moved into her sister's place in her hometown Tenali.

Cultural impact[edit]

Mothers of those days used to put their child to sleep humming this lullaby, "Dina Dinamu Papadni Deevinchi pondi Devalokamuloni Devathallaara", first performed by Kanchanamala.

Kanchanamala's photograph from the Malapilla film's promotional calendar adorned many homes and she generated such a "craze" among the cinema patrons.



Kanchanamala: The first pin-up girl of Telugu cinema


Kanchanamala: The first pin-up girl of Telugu cinema June 17, 2018  Actors
Kanchanamala etched her name permanently in the history of Telugu cinema with a career spanning just 11 films. She was the first dream girl of Indian cinema and the first pin-up girl of Telugu cinema. She was a bold actress and the first heroine of Telugu film industry to wear a bikini. After a humongous stardom and Nationwide following, her career ended abruptly to the conspiracies of the industry.
049 kanchanamala telugu actress 1
EARLY CAREER:
Kanchanamala was born in 5th March, 1917 in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh. She had a keen interest on music and acting since her childhood. She started her acting career with a minor role as Mitravinda in the 1935 film, Srikrishna Tulabharam. The filmmaker who popularized social films in Telugu, Gudavalli Ramabrahmam, assumed that she couldn’t act and eventually rejected her. The music director Bhimavarapu Narasimha Rao criticized her voice. But Kanchanamala rose in her career with each film. Her next role was Uthara in Veerabhimanyu, which is also another minor role.

 

The Bollywood actor and producer, Jaddan Bai (the mother of most elegant Hindi actress, Nargis), was mesmerized by her beauty and asked her to act in Hindi films. Even Mehboob Khan and renowned hero Motilal requested Kanchanamala to learn Hindi and promised her stardom in Bollywood. Being a teenager, she rejected all these offers and is content with her career in Telugu film industry.


049 kanchanamala telugu actress 2 mala pilla
 

SUCCESS AND STARDOM:
Her next movie, Vipranarayana, made her a big star. She was seen in a supporting role in the film. She acted in Two sensational films in the year 1938. Kanchanamala enacted the role of a depraved dancer in the film, Gruhalakshmi, which was a milestone in her career. Gudavalli Ramabrahmam, who rejected her earlier, realized that he was wrong and signed her for the Harijan village girl Sampalatha in the film Malapilla. It is based on Gudipaati Venkata Chalam’s unpublished novelette.
During the times when inter-caste marriage campaigns are active, Malapilla narrates the story of an orthodox Brahmin guy falling in love with a Harijan girl. The critics ruled her out calling her misfit for such a complex character. But the audience embraced her performance as an illiterate downtrodden village girl in the first half of the film and as a learnt modern city damsel in the second half. Bhimavarapu Narasimha Rao, who criticized her voice, had to make her sing for the film. Malapilla turned out to be the highest grossing Telugu film of its time.
049 kanchanamala telugu actress 5
FIRST PINUP GIRL OF TOLLYWOOD:
The promotional calendars of Malapilla with the picture of Kanchanamala wearing sleeveless blouse, fancy ear rings, plaited hair on shoulders with a coffee cup in her hands decorated houses all over the state at that time. Her craze was so phenomenal that sarees, blouses and bangles were sold after her name. The producers and directors started believing that her name is enough for the success of the film and lined up for her.
Her subsequent films were Vande Mataram, Malli pelli and Illalu. The leading lawyer from Kadapa with stage experience, Uma Maheswara Rao, produced Illalu while debuting as a hero. The film attained commercial success. In 1940, Andhra Patrika started their first film ballot and Illalu won best film, best director and best actress (Kanchanamala) awards. Kanchanamala sang the song “Dina dinamu papadni deevinchi pondi devalokamuloni devathalaara,” which was so popular at that time that mothers used to hum this song as a lullaby to put their children to sleep.
049 kanchanamala telugu actress 4
CONSPIRACIES AND DOWNFALL:
She was married to her childhood friend, Gali Venkaiah. She enacted the role of Chandrasena in the film Mahiravana. The founder of Gemini studios, S. S. Vasan, selected her for the title role in Balanagamma. No one knows how they’ve convinced her but Kanchanamala ended up signing the contract for Balanagamma which included clause to work only under Gemini studios. According to the contract, she couldn’t work for other studios and the permission of Gemini studios is required to work for others. She had differences with the producer and director of Balanagamma, S. S. Vasan, which lead to the legal entanglement. Balanagamma was released and became a blockbuster with huge profits to Gemini studios. There was another conspiracy happening within the Gemini studios. Some other director in Gemini studios made them not to work with her. This marked the abrupt end of her acting career.
049 kanchanamala telugu actress 3
PERSONAL PROBLEMS AND END OF CAREER:
Kanchanamala had to deal with the problems in her personal life during the same time. Her husband, Gali venkaiah, suffered from tuberculosis. She tried hard for his treatment but eventually lost him. Later fell prey to depression and lost mental imbalance. She later moved to her younger sister’s home in her hometown in Tenali. She stopped talking to people and spent her time sitting under a tree staring into the sky. Several people tried to help her but she couldn’t recover from it. Tripuraneni Gopichand announced a film titled ‘Anadha Bala’ with Kanchanamala during 1950s, but the film never happened. She later performed in stage dramas which couldn’t be as successful as her films. She stopped acting in dramas and eventually disappeared.
The producer of Nartanasala (1963), Lakshmi Rajyam, offered her a role in the hope that she could recover if she returns to Madras. After learning about her return, many admirers, friends and industry personnel met her and tried to remind her of the past. She didn’t recognize anyone. After 40 years of despair, she left this world on 24th January, 1981. We have lost our first glamourous actress to the deception and conspiracies of the film industry.
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The song ‘Dina dinamu paapadni deevinchi pondi’: Lullaby of the 40s 


The year was early 1940. Gudavalli Ramabrahmam was holding a song composing session at his office for his movie, Illalu. Saluru Rajeswara Rao was signed to compose the music. Kanchanamala, who was playing the female lead, had to sing two songs in the movie. Ramabrahmam introduced Rajeswara Rao to her. Looking at him mockingly, she said, “Is this boy going to teach me how to sing?” and left the room. Recalling that incident, Rajeswara Rao once said, “I was 19 then. She made fun of me with these words, Ee kurrakunka sangeetha darsakudigaa naaku ishatam ledu (I do not like this little fellow as the music director). However, Ramabrahmam garu managed to persuade her for about 10 days and made her agree to sing.”

In fact, it was just two years earlier, with Gudavalli Ramabrahmam‘s Malapilla (1938), that Kanchanamala had attained stardom. Recognising her new status as a superstar, Gudavalli Ramabrahmam had signed her for his next movie, Illalu, on a monthly salary of ₹3,000 with a four- month contract — the total of ₹12000 was a whopping salary for an actor in those days (when a gram of gold was being sold at less than nine rupees). Kanchanamala, who had by then turned hauteur, refused to listen to her mentor, despite his coaxing. Gudavalli Ramabrahmam hit upon an idea. He asked Rao Balasaraswati, who was also a part of the project as a singer-actress, to sit next to Kanchanamala and hum a few lines from one of the two songs, a lullaby, which Kanchanamala had to sing in the movie. That did the trick. Captivated by Balasaraswati’s mellifluous humming, Kanchanamala, realising her folly, agreed to sing the song for the young composer.

Kanchanamala and Umamaheswara Rao in ‘Illalu’

Kanchanamala and Umamaheswara Rao in ‘Illalu’   | Photo Credit: By arrangement

The dialogues and the lyrics for Illalu were credited to Tapi Dharma Rao. However, Gudavalli Ramabrahmam used a couple of songs penned by Basavaraju Apparao, including the duet, Kavyapaanamu jesi kaipekkinaane, rendered by and filmed on Rajeswara Rao and Balasaraswathi.

One of the most popular songs from Illalu was the lullaby Dina dinamu paapadnni deevinchi pondi, rendered by Kanchanamala. It is largely believed to have been written by Tapi Dharma Rao. But neither the 78 rpm gramophone records nor the song book mention the lyricist’s name.

The song

Dina dinamu paapadni deevinchi pondi / Devalokamu loni devathallaaraa / Dina dinamu... / Naa papa niduralo navvukuntaadu / Aassekaalaadeno apsarasalathonu apsarasalathonu / Kannayya niduralo kannu gilikenu / Verri lokamu joochi vekkirinchenu/ Dina dinamu paapadni deevinchi pondi / Devalokamu loni devathallaaraa devathallaaraa.

The scene

Indira (played by Kanchanamala) is happily married to Murthy (Umamaheswara Rao) till Murthy falls in love with Leela (Lakshmi Rajyam) and brings her as his second wife. Though it leaves Indira in anguish, she performs her duty as a devoted wife and a doting mother of her child. While patiently bearing with her husband, she sings the lullaby to put her child to sleep in the swing.

Breaking away from the convention in vogue then, Rajeswara Rao designed a new pattern for the lullaby with only the background music for the first 30 seconds and then followed it up with the singer’s melodious rendition. “Dina dinamu paapadni deevinchi pondi was the most popular jola paata (lullaby) of the time. Almost every mother in the Telugu home used to sing this song to put their offspring to sleep,” recalls J Madhusudana Sarma, an expert in Telugu and Hindi film music up to the 60s. “Prior to this the popular lullaby was Jo Achhutaananda jo jo mukunda enacted and rendered by C Krishnaveni playing Anasuya in the all children star cast — Sati Anasuya — Dhruva Vijayam (1936).” On a lighter note he adds, “with due respect to Ramatilakam as a veteran actress, however, her rendition of the lullaby, Jo jo jo komala syamala gokula bala in Sri Krishna leelalu (1935) used to wake up even those children who were in deep slumber.”

Journalist turned actor and film historian Ravi Kondala Rao says that he first heard the song as a nine year old, when his eldest sister-in-law used to sing the lullaby to put her child to sleep. “It remained the most popular lullaby for the next many years.”

Though Saluru Rajeswara Rao made his debut as a music director with Jayaprada (1938), it was Illalu which established him in the field, with songs from the film appealing to all and sundry.


Kanchanamala was a bold actress of Telugu film industry. In fact, she was the first heroine of Telugu film industry to wear a bikini. Born in the year 1923, Kanchanamala was known as the “Queen of the 70s”. 


Kanchanamala kick started her career in film industry with the1935 film Srikrishna Tulabharam when she was just 12 years old. That was not a major role. She wooed the audience with her beautiful eyes and acted in some other films, including Veerabhimanyu, Malapilla and Gruhalakshmi. 


Born in Tenali, Kanchanamala has only 19 movies to her credit. There is an interesting story in the film career of Kanchanamala. Director-producer Ramabrahmam assumed that this beautiful actress was not fit for acting. He eventually ignored her. But Kanchanamala steadily had an upswing in her career, and this is when Ramabrahmam realized that he made a mistake. He later cast her in the role of Harijan, a rural girl in the film Malapilla. Hardcore critics ruled her out, but nevertheless this beauty came with a brilliant performance as an illiterate village girl in the initial half and as a learnt modern city damsel in the second half. 


Later Kanchanamala acted in the 1936 flick Veerabhimanyu in a supporting role. Jaddan Bhai, who is a producer as well as an actress (Bollywood’s good actress Nargis is her daughter), was attracted towards Kanchanamala, and expressed her wish to see the Telugu star in Hindi films. Even Mehboob Khan, and renowned hero Motilal requested Kanchamala to get to know Hindi. They wanted Kanchanamala to be a great star of Bollywood. But Kanchanamala rejected all these offers. She was just a teenager then. The flick Vipra Narayana made her a big star. She was seen in a supporting role in this film. 


The film Gruhalakshmi was a milestone in Kanchanamala’s career, and she enacted the significant role of a depraved dancer in the film. 


Kanchanmala was mainly known for her glamour. The Telugu song "Dina Dinamu Papadni Deevinchi Pondi Devalokamuloni Devathallaara" in which Kanchanamala acted was such a hit that mothers used to sings this as a lullaby. Also such was Kanchanamala’s magnetic presence that her photograph decorated several homes.

    


Filmography[edit]

  1. Srikrishna Thulabhaaram (1935) as Mitravinda
  2. Veerabhimanyu (1936) as Uttara
  3. Vipranarayana (1937) as Devadevi
  4. Gruhalakshmi (1938) as Madhuri
  5. Malapilla (1938) as Shampalatha
  6. Vande Mataram (1939) as Janaki 


  1. Malli Pelli (1939) as Lalitha
  2. Illalu (1940)
  3. Mahiravana (1940) as Chandrasena
  4. Bala Nagamma (1942) as Balanagamma
  5. Narthanasala (1963) in a guest role
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