Win Oo (Burmese: ဝင်းဦး; pronounced [wɪ́ɰ̃ ʔú], 13 March 1935 – 14 December 1988) was a two-time Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards winning Burmese actor, singer, director, writer and publisher. He became publicly known for his acting, singing and directing. Win was considered one of the most important actors in history of Burmese cinema. He died of colorectal cancer in 1988.[1]

Win Oo
ဝင်းဦး
Born
Hla Myint

(1935-03-13)13 March 1935
Died14 December 1988(1988-12-14) (aged 53)
Other namesKo Oo
Occupation(s)Actor, singer, director, writer and publisher.
AwardsMyanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards (Best Leading Actor for 1967, 1970)

Youth

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Win Oo was born on 13 March 1935 as Hla Myint in Rangoon (now Yangon) to his parents U Ba Nyunt (Chit-Dukkha), a history professor at Rangoon University, and Daw Hnin Yi, as the third of five children.[2] He matriculated at TTC (Practicing High School, passing his 10th standard examinations at the age of 14.[2] He subsequently attended Rangoon University, where he studied mathematics, economics, and French and wrote short stories under the pen name "Nyo Min Lwin."[2]

In 1952, during his third year, he departed from his university studies and joined the Burmese Army.[2] Win Oo was stationed in Maymyo (now Pyin Oo Lwin) and Meiktila, and spent 9 months in 1959 training in Australia.[2] Upon his return to Burma, he became a more prolific writer, penning nineteen stories in Shumuwa, including a novel, A University Student (တက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားတစ်ဦး), in 1960.[2] He was honourably discharged from the army as a captain in 1962.[3]

Career

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He launched his acting career in 1962, starring in Hna-Yauk Hte Nay-Gyin-De, adapted from his eponymous novel, directed by Tin Yu.[3] But this movie was not his first film. Chit-Thaw-Thu-Ta-Yout was his first film in cinema but this movie was not commercially successful. He both directed and starred in Saung Einmet and Hmon Shwe Yee. He founded the Sanda movie company, established first "color offset printer" in Burma, established "Sanda Magazine Office" and published Sanda Magazine.[4] He won numerous Myanmar Academy Award for his performances, including Best Actor for Hmon Shwe Yee in 1970. He starred in 27 films, before passing away in 1988. He wrote 31 novels. His most famous book is Main ma Hla Ah Mone.[3]

Legacy

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He is best known for his image, acting, unusual voice, and way of speaking and singing,[5] which some artists often imitate as a fun way of entertainment,[6] especially in traditional live performances on the stage.[7] The BBC (Myanmar) described that in Myanmar, not many artists have great success beyond their age and grave, and that Win Oo is one of the few whose success and influence extend till these days. The late Hla Htut, a famous Myanmar pianist and composer, remarked that his use of low-pitched, nasal and legato voices in several songs like "Maung Do Cherry Myay" (Our Cherry Land) and his voices of interjection in such songs as "Mee Pon Pwe" (Bonfire) and "Ma Ma Moe" (Lady Moe) were quite distinct and earned his place in the category of remake-western songs in Myanmar. He directed and appeared as an actor in many films; in Ah Twe Ah Tar, an unusual film for that time because no actress appeared; the main roles are a child-actress and him only, and in a self-directed film, Chit Thu Yway Mae` Chit Ware Le` he acted in an octa-role with many actresses, which he even made it successful in spite of lack of high film-technology for that period. Hmon Shwe Yi is one of his prominent works, through which some elements and aspects of Myanmar Stage Performance and Entertainment can be observed. Last but not least, his love for songs by Myoma Nyein and participation in Mandalay Thingyan festival over a decade is still considered to be a cultural icon in Myanmar.[5]

Filmography

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Lists of Films
No. Year Film Co-Stars Note
1 1962 Chit Thaw Thu Ta Yauk Khin Than Nu
2 Hna Yauk Htae Nay Chin Tal Tin Tin Mu, Daisy Kyaw Win
3 Mone Ta Hlae Pyone Ta Hlae Tin Tin Aye
4 1963 Saung Ta Nya Wal Wah Wah Win Shwe
5 Bain Mi Thar Ra Tin Maung, Kyi Kyi Htay, Kyi Kyi Nyunt
6 Mharna Takhon Tin Tin Aye
7 Padauk Yake Wal Tin Tin Aye, Hnin Si
8 Bawa Mattan Tin Tin Aye
9 Myat Myint Myint Khin,

Tin Tin Nwet, Chit Sabal

10 Ta Pwint Tae Pan Mal Kyi Kyi Htay, Thi Thi
11 Maung Doh Cherry Myay Khin Than Nu
12 E San Eain Wal Wah Wah Win Shwe
13 Chit Thaw Mg Mg Thi Thi
14 Maung Chawt Myu Pa Mal Kyi Kyi Htay
15 Yin Thway Yin Nit May Thit, Wah Wah Win Shwe
16 1964 Thit Sar Tu Pyaing Myint Myint Khin
17 Bal Yat Htar Nay Wah Wah Win Shwe
18 Maung A Chit Taw Tin Tin Mu, Chit Sabal
19 Myittar Pan Myint Myint Khin, Khin Than Nu
20 Thi Kyar Say Thet Thay Nhyun Wah Wah Win Shwe, Khin Than Nu
21 Nyi Nyi Lwin Wah Wah Win Shwe
22 1965 Mone May Par Naing Tin Tin Mu, Thi Thi, Wah Wah Win Shwe, Aung Lwin
23 Chit Thel Wah Wah Win Shwe
24 1966 Su Htoo Nge Pan Ywal Thun Daisy Kyaw Win, Nwet Nwet San
25 1967 Yee Sar Da Mya Khin Than Nu
26 Maung Maung Nae Theingi San Shar Tin, San San Win
27 Hnin Pyauk Tae Nway Tin Tin Mu, Tin Tin Aye
28 Saung Einmet Tin Tin Aye, Aye Aye Thin
29 1968 Ko Chit Thu Bal Mhar Shi Tal Khin Than Nu
30 Thoe Khin Than Nu
31 Tein Hlwar Moht Moht Lwin Myint Myint Khin
32 1969 Kyaukme A Kyin Thar Khin Than Nu
33 1970 Hmone Shwe Yee Khin Than Nu, Aung Lwin, Po Par Gyi
34 1971 Ta Kyawt Hna Kyawt Tay Ko Thi Tin Tin Mya, Cho Pyone
35 1972 A Twal A Tar Sandar Lin
36 1973 Latt Latt Khin Than Nu
37 Mone Par Tal Maung Ko Myint Myint Khin
38 Pan Myo Taw Tho Chay Lann Lay Sal Kyaw Swar Win, Cho Pyone Guest
39 1975 Chit Thu Yway Mal Chit Wae Lal Myint Myint Khin, Tin Tin Nwet, San San Aye, Myint Myint Khine, Cho Pyone, Nwet Nwet Mu, Sandar
40 1976 Min Bal Pyay Ma Lae Mi Cho Thel Sandar
41 1977 Tein Oo Lay Pyay Maung Ko Say Khin Yu May, Tin Tin Nwet
42 1980 Thet Tan Paw Ka Lu Ta Yauk Khin Than Nu, Aye Aye Thin
43 1981 Main Ma Nae Yauk Kyar Myint Myint Khine, Yin Yin Aye
44 Kyun Taw Pyaw Thaw A Chit A Kyaung Khin Than Nwe
45 Myittar Kabar Char Lay Thu Nwet Nwet Mu
46 Chit Thu Kyin Thu Myat Noe Thu Myint Myint Khin, Myint Myint Khine
47 Zar Ti Thway Kyi Kyi Htay, Swe Zin Htaik
48 1982 Yarma Lattkhana Lo A Chit Myo Swe Zin Htaik
49 Woot Kyaw Swar Win, May Win Maung
50 Moe Palae Yadanar Saw Mya Thandar, Thidar Win
51 Hna Yauk Htae Nay Chin Tal Aye Min Win, Cho Pyone, May Win Maung Director
52 1987 Ngwe Hlaing Zar Paw Mhar Kyaw Swar Win, Cho Pyone
53 1992 Khine Mar Lar Hnin Si Yan Aung, Khin Than Nu

Awards

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Year Award Category Nominated work Result
1967 Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards Best Actor Saung Einmet Won
1970 Hmone Shwe Yee Won

References

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  1. ^ "တစ္ေခတ္မွာတစ္ေယာက္ စြယ္စုံရ အႏုပညာရွင္ (ကို)ဝင္းဦး". myanmargazette.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Ferguson, Jane M. (17 February 2022), Driskell, Jonathan (ed.), "Chapter 3 Shake it like Elvis: Win Oo, the culturally appropriate heart-throb of the Burmese socialist years", Film Stardom in South East Asia, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 51–66, doi:10.1515/9781474442213-006, ISBN 978-1-4744-4221-3, retrieved 17 September 2022
  3. ^ a b c Phyo Sandar Myint (7 August 2013). "မြန်မာ့အနုပညာလောက၏ စွယ်စုံအနုပညာရှင် အကယ်ဒမီ ဝင်းဦး" [Academy-winner Win Oo, a multi-talented artist in the Myanma entertainment industry (literature, music and films] (in Burmese). Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  4. ^ Kyaw Hsu Mon (29 August 2015). "Laughter, the best medicine". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 16 May 2020. In the 1960s, Maung Maung's work appeared in "Sandar," a popular magazine published by actor Win Oo.
  5. ^ a b Bo Bo (18 December 2018). "နှုတ်ခမ်းမွေးမင်းသား ဝင်းဦးရဲ့ အမြတ်နိုးဆုံးအနုပညာက ဘာလဲ" [What’s the type of the arts the mustache actor 'Win Oo' admires best?]. BBC Myanmar (in Burmese). Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  6. ^ Mg Thit Hlaing (3 April 2019). "ကျွန်တော်လွမ်းဆွတ်မိသော အသံတုအနုပညာ" [Vocal mimicry, for which I feel quite nostalgic] (in Burmese). Retrieved 16 May 2020. သူ့အမူအယာ၊ သူ့အသံသည်လည်း တစ်မူကွဲပြားနေသော အသံရှင်ဖြစ်၏။ " မှုံရွှေရည် '၊ ' ဆောင်းအိပ်မက် '၊ ' ကျောက်မဲအကျဉ်းသား 'ဇာတ်ကားများသည် လူကြိုက်များသောရုပ်ရှင်ဇာတ်ကားများ ဖြစ်သောကြောင့် အသံတုပညာရှင်များက မင်းသားကြီးဝင်းဦး ၏အသံကိုအပိုင်တုပနိုင်၏။
  7. ^ Mg Thit Hlaing (19 February 2015). "ဖန်တီးသူတို့အပြော၊ ခံစားသူတို့အမြင်" [talks of the creators, opinions of the audience] (in Burmese). Retrieved 16 May 2020. …နေတိုးက နှင်းဆီအငြိမ့် … နာမည်ကြီးအဆိုတော် တွေရဲ့အသံတွေကို တုပပြီး အသံတုလုပ်ဆိုတဲ့နေရာမှာလည်း တော်တယ်။ ဥပမာ-တွံတေးသိန်းတန်တို့၊ ဝင်းဦးတို့ပေါ့။
  • Cartoon Win Aung's famous artist published in 2006.
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