Rima Melati

Marjolein Tambayong (August 22, 1939 – June 23, 2022), better known by her stage name Rima Melati or by her nickname Lientje, was an Indonesian actress, model, and singer. She appeared in close to one hundred feature films, including works by Wim Umboh, Sjumandjaja, and Teguh Karya. She received multiple awards, including a PWI Award for Best Actress for Noda Tak Berampun (Unforgivable Smear), a Citra Award for Best Leading Actress for Intan Berduri (A Thorned Gem, 1972), and five nominations for the Citra Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Melati also worked as a fashion designer and, together with her husband Frans Tumbuan, as a restaurateur. After surviving breast cancer in the 1990s, she campaigned for breast cancer awareness.
Marjolein Tambayong was born in Tondano, Sulawesi, Dutch East Indies, on 22 August 1939. Though her father Marinus Van Rest was Dutch, she took the family name of her step-father, Tambayong. She moved to Jakarta and became a model, using the diminutive form of her name, "Lientje". In the late 1950s, she became a member of the girl group The Baby Dolls; this group also included Indriati Iskak, Gaby Mambo [id], and Baby Huwae. In 1958, Tambayong made her feature film debut with a minor role in Djuara Sepatu Roda (Roller-Skating Champion), a film that starred Indriati Iskak.
In 1960s, Tambayong decided to use a stage name "Rima Melati". Several sources, including the Encyclopedia of Jakarta, write that this occurred following the stillbirth of a child she had wanted to name Rima after Audrey Hepburn's character in Green Mansions; when she broached the subject with President Sukarno, he recommended that she take the name for herself, as her birth name was "too western" (Indonesian: terlalu kebarat-baratan). In an interview with The Jakarta Globe, however, Tambayong stated that she had received the name when she had gone to the presidential palace to get petrol. She was invited to meet President Sukarno and he said that her name was too Western. Tambayong then combined the name of Hepburn's character with Melati ("jasmine"), the name of a friend's daughter.
Rima Melati took her first leading role in the 1961 film Kasih Tak Sampai (Unrealized Love). Over the following two years, she acted in a further ten films, including Djantung Hati (Heart and Soul, 1961), Violetta (1962), and Kartika Aju (The Beautiful Kartika, 1963). Melati married Nelson Tobing in 1963 and also made several appearances on the newly established State television network, TVRI. After finishing Kunanti Jawabmu (I Await Your Answer, 1963), Melati took a hiatus from acting; the Encyclopedia of Jakarta attributes this to her having remarried.
Melati returned to the screen in 1969 after marrying Ir. Herwindo, with a role in Wim Umboh's Laki-Laki Tak Bernama (Man Without a Name). Over the next twenty years, she appeared in more than seventy films, including Teguh Karya's directorial debut Wadjah Seorang Laki-Laki (Ballad of a Man, 1971), Sjumandjaja's directorial debut Lewat Tengah Malam (After Midnight, 1971), and the Indonesia–Netherlands collaboration Max Havelaar (1975). She received multiple awards and nominations during this period, including a Citra Award for Best Leading Actress at the 1973 Indonesian Film Festival for Intan Berduri (A Thorned Gem, 1972).
Melati also was interested in fashion design. Together with Sumi Hakim and Gaby Mambo, she formed a modeling group called "The Prof's Group". Composed of 40 models, this group aimed to showcase more radical fashion exhibitions than what was mainstream in Indonesia. Melati organised one of the first formal fashion shows in the country. The ensuing publicity helped the group to travel abroad to American shows in Malibu and Hawaii, as well as to Europe.
In 1973, she traveled with Sumi Hakim and Emilia Contessa to the Netherlands for a month-long show sponsored by Pertamina. During this trip, Melati met Frans Tumbuan, and they married later that year. They had two children named Aditya Tumbuan (born 30 June 1975) and Keke Tumbuan (born 17 September 1978), both of whom were born in Jakarta. Tumbuan, a restaurateur who was living in the Netherlands at the time, moved to Jakarta with her. The couple opened several restaurants, including La Bistro, La Bodega, and Jaya Pub; this last one, established in 1975, is Jakarta's oldest bar and has been described as "iconic". Tumbuan also began acting, making his feature film debut in Bung Kecil (Little Man); this film began production in 1978 but was only released in 1983 owing to difficulties with the censorship bureau. Melati and Tumbuan remained together until the latter died in 2015.
In 1980, Melati along with Indonesian lawyer and former actress Nurbani Yusuf founded Yayasan Kesejahteraan Artis Perintis Film Indonesia (KARFINI), a charitable foundation that provided financial assistance to Indonesian film industry actors and actresses who were active in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1989, shortly after shooting Sesaat dalam Pelukan (A Moment's Embrace), Melati was diagnosed with Stage 3B breast cancer. She underwent treatment for one and a half years, traveling to the Netherlands as Indonesian surgeons were unable to perform a partial mastectomy. She did not return to cinema until 1994, when she appeared in Sesal (Regret). Directed by her friend Sophan Sophiaan, the film starred Sophiaan as a writer who was unable to accompany his wife (played by Widyawati) on her deathbed. In 1997 Melati directed the television serial Api Cinta Antonio Blanco (The Flame of Antonio Blanco's Love), based on the life of Antonio Blanco, a Spanish-American painter who settled in Bali.
Melati made several films after the turn of the millennium, including Banyu Biru (Blue Water, 2004), Ungu Violet (Purple Violet, 2005), and Ayah, Mengapa Aku Berbeda? (Father, Why Am I Different?, 2011). In a 2012 interview, she stated that she had no intention of returning to film or television, but she made further appearances in 2016 and 2017. She remained active as a fashion designer, and campaigned for breast cancer awareness through the Jakarta Breast Health Foundation.
Melati died at Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital in Jakarta on 23 June 2022 at the age of 82. She was admitted to the intensive care unit days before her death after suffering decubitus.
In her career, which spanned more than five decades, Melati appeared in almost a hundred films. She also directed Api Cinta Antonio Blanco (1997), which was released in cinemas as two separate films: Blanco, the Colour of Love (1997) and Bali Forever (2007).
Source:
Melati won Best Actress at the 1971 PWI Awards, held by the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Journalists Association, for her role as Marina in Noda Tak Berampun (Unforgivable Smear); she received three further nominations in that category, in 1972, 1973, and 1974, but did not win again.
At the 1973 Indonesian Film Festival, Melati won a Citra Award for Best Leading Actress for her portrayal of Saleha in Intan Berduri. In the late 1980s she was nominated for five Citra Awards for Best Supporting Actress, but did not receive any.