This
Man who has been an actor since before I was born, dies a few days short of his
91st birthday on the 29th so has had a full life, and has
spent his last days, having suffered a stroke in a care home that he himself
had helped to found for retired actors.
Of
course having lived in England since 1971, I was privy to many of his movies in
black and white, and only later did I follow the movies he directed including
the acclaimed Gandhi which I believe won numerous award, including a clutch of
Oscars.
Nevertheless,
the reason I chose to write was the fact that at the time of his death he was
still living in the same care home with his wife who was suffering from
Dementia, who he had married in 1945 and with whom he has had three children,
one of whom as an adult died in the Boxing Day tsunami.
In
this day and age, where actors make it a point to make headlines with marriages
and their divorces and numerous follow up marriages and divorces, it is nice to
know some old world actors did not have to succumb to the same temptation to
stay popular or crave notice when their popularity for some reason takes a
dive!
Unfortunately
we live in a world where with TV and digital media, Sportsman and women as well
as Actors and Singers are the standards by which our youth seem to judge
success or failure.
The
resulting social tragedy where divorce as it is seen as common, has put less
emphasis on the sanctity of marriage and the untold misery of children who are
of divorced parents who count amongst them, numerous grand and step
grandparents seem to confuse families to such a degree that there is NO nuclear
family anymore.
In
the Sri Lankan context it is sadly no different as the tragedy I referred to
earlier where a man in his early thirties died in a road accident, was as a result
of a row with his wife of a month, who was about 18 and had already been on her
second husband, and after the death has not sighted the marital home, either
out of guilt or due to another liason!
Whilst
there is so much to praise Sir Dickie Boo as I used to call him, I will refer
to the longevity of his marital union as the one I respect the most! May his
soul rest in peace, and thanks for the entertainment you provided.
1 comment:
Sri Lankans were and continue to be polyamorous people. They are very difficult to discipline as the Portuguese, Dutch, and British can attest to. This feature of society can be manipulated to cause petty squabbles and wars amongst them in order to control them. Sri Lanka is more likely to develop a nuclear bomb that a culture of nuclear families. Although the Colombo elites continue to look down upon children of divorce as second-rate catches for their own children.
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