# U.W. Sumathipala Awards

The Sumathi U.W. Sumathipala Memorial Award is presented annually by the Sumathi Group of Companies associated with many commercial brands for the artists who devoted their life to the improvement of Sri Lankan cinema, theatre and television in every aspect. The award named in honour of U. W. Sumathipala, the father of current Sumathi Group owner and the founder of Sumathi Awards, Thilanga Sumathipala.
The award was first given in 1996, and in some years the award has been given to more than one person individual. The following is a list of the winners of this award.

## Award winners

| Year | Award Winner | Notable work |
| 1996 | Titus Thotawatte | Director, actor and founder of Sri Lankan dubbing cartoon history. |
| 1997 | Gamini Fonseka | Actor, director, politician and first crowned king of Sinhala cinema. |
| 1998 | Denawaka Hamine | Actress and the grand old lady of Sinhala cinema. |
| 1998 | Hugo Fernando | Actor, lyricist, assistant director and music director. |
| 1999 | K. A. W. Perera | Producer, director and screen play writer. |
| 1999 | Joe Abeywickrama | Actor, author and second crowned king of Sinhala cinema. |
| 2000 | Tony Ranasinghe | Actor, screen play writer and third crowned king of Sinhala cinema. |
| 2000 | Christy Leonard Perera | Actor, musician and renowned comedian. |
| 2001 | Iranganie Serasinghe | Actress, journalist, teacher and granny of Sinhala cinema. |
| 2001 | Malani Fonseka | Actress, director, producer and the Queen of Sinhala cinema. |
| 2002 | Henry Jayasena | Actor, screenplay writer, director and one of the most influential theater actors. |
| 2002 | Ravindra Randeniya | Actor and politician, who awarded more than 6 times as the best actor. |
| 2003 | Sathischandra Edirisinghe | Veteran actor, filmmaker, teledrama director with 50 years service in Sri Lankan art. |
| 2003 | Robin Fernando | Veteran actor, and pioneer of Sri Lankan stunts. |
| 2004 | Wijeratne Warakagoda | Veteran actor, director and icon in Sinhala stage plays. |
| 2004 | Latha Walpola | Veteran singer rated as the Nightingale of Sri Lankan Music industry. |
| 2006 | Shanthi Lekha | Actress who appeared over 350 Sinhala films as the mother. |
| 2006 | Shan Wickremesinghe | Media mogul, broadcaster, broadcast engineer, who is the founder of Sri Lanka's first television station. |
| 2007 | Nanda Malini | Singer, lecturer, music director and one of the most influential singers in Sri Lankan music industry. |
| 2007 | Stanley Perera | Actor, who appeared in more than 40 films in Early phase of Sinhala cinema. |
| 2008 | Roy de Silva | Veteran actor, director, producer, screen play writer, rated as one of the most successful film makers in the Sri Lankan cinema. |
| 2008 | Rex Kodippili | Veteran actor, who appeared in more than 50 films as the villain in Sinhala cinema. |
| 2009 | Clarice de Silva | Actress, who appeared in the Sinhala cinema in the early phase. |
| 2009 | Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya | Actress, who appeared in the Sinhala cinema in the early golden phase. |
| 2010 | Sunil Ariyaratne | Scholar, film director, author, poet, lyricist and one of Sri Lankan most influential senior artists. |
| 2010 | Sriyani Amarasena | Veteran actress, director, producer who appeared many highly rated blockbuster films. |
| 2011 | Anula Karunathilaka | Veteran actress best noted for the role Dammi in blockbuster film Golu Hadawatha. |
| 2011 | Angeline Gunathilake | Veteran singer and composer, who was one of the leading playback singers of Sinhala cinema. |
| 2012 | Cyril Wickramage | Veteran actor, director and singer, known for participating mainly in artistic Sinhala cinema. |
| 2012 | Victor Rathnayake | Veteran singer, violinist, music director, composer, lyricist, who is the first Sri Lankan musician to hold a live one-man concert. |
| 2013 | Punya Heendeniya | Veteran actress, who considered as a legend in Sinhala cinema. |
| 2013 | Sanath Nandasiri | Veteran singer, music director, composer, lyricist, who is one of the leading singers in Sri Lankan music industry. |
| 2014 | Rohana Weerasinghe | Veteran musician, composer and singer, one of Sri Lanka's leading composers in the history. |
| 2014 | Sujatha Attanayake | Music Director, Lecturer, Veteran singer, who is one of the leading singers in Sri Lankan music industry. |
| 2015 | A. D. Ranjith Kumara | Veteran artist, journalist, designer who covered over 300 cover designs. |
| 2015 | Indrani Wijebandara | Veteran singer, who is one of the leading singers in Sri Lankan music industry. |
| 2016 | Amarasiri Kalansuriya | Veteran actor, who is renowned for award winning dramatic roles in Sinhala cinema. |
| 2016 | Anoja Weerasinghe | Veteran actress, producer and a social activist who is one of the most influential actors in Sinhala art. |
| 2017 | Nita Fernando | Veteran actress, and producer who is renowned for award winning dramatic roles in Sinhala cinema. |
| 2017 | Swarna Mallawarachchi | Veteran actress, who is considered as the Golden star of Sinhalese cinema. |
| 2018 | Tissa Wijesurendra | Veteran award winning actor highly popularized during 1970s. |
| 2018 | Geetha Kumarasinghe | Veteran actress and politician, who is the recipient of Sarasaviya Award in four times. |
| 2019 | Alexander Fernando | Veteran actor, one of the action heroes in early Sinhala cinema. |
| 2019 | Sumana Amarasinghe | Veteran actress, considered as the Sweet Girl of Sinhala cinema. |
| 2020 | Douglas Ranasinghe | Veteran actor, one of the popular actor in 1970s Sinhala cinema. |
| 2020 | Manel Wanaguru | Veteran actress, one of the popular actress in 1970s Sinhala cinema. |
| 2023 | Indrani Perera | Veteran songstress, dominated 1980s of Sinhala songs. |
| 2023 | Sanath Gunathilake | Veteran actor, dominated Sinhala cinema in 1980s and 1990s. |
| 2024 | Dharmasiri Bandaranayake | Prominent film director and playwright. |
| 2024 | Priya Suriyasena | Veteran singer, dominated both indoor and outdoor music for four decades. |