Teuku Zsakaria (bin Teuku Nyak Puteh) Ramlee bin Puteh (1929 - 1973)

Born 22 Mar 1929 in Penang, Straits Settlements, British Malaya

Died 29 May 1973 at age 44 in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: David Randall [send private message]

Biography

Teuku (bin Teuku Nyak Puteh) Ramlee bin Puteh is Notable.

Teuku (bin Teuku Nyak Puteh) Ramlee bin Puteh was born in Malaysia.

Better known as P. Ramlee (pronounced here), Teuku was a Malayan actor, filmmaker, musician, and composer famous across Singapore, Indonesia and Southern Thailand, yet virtually ignored in his home country. Only in the 1980s, two decades after his death, did he come to be regarded as Malaysia's most beloved and versatile entertainer.^[1]

Teuku Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak Puteh (pronounced roughly here) was born on 22 March 1929 in Penang, [Straits Settlements], British Malaya (now Malaysia). His parents were Teuku Nyak Puteh Bin Teuku Karim and Che Mah Binti Hussein.^[1]

He received his early education in Sekolah Melayu Kampung Jawa and then the Francis Light School. In school, he was registered with "Ramlee" as first name by his father. Subsequently, he abbreviated his name to P. Ramlee where initial P stood for his father's name (Puteh) and Ramlee was his given name.^[1]

During the Japanese Occupation he worked in a tin factory and attended a school set up by the Japanese navy, where he learned Japanese songs. In 1945 he entered a singing contest organized by Penang Radio for North Malaya, where he emerged third. He was the runner-up in the following year and the winner in 1947. At a cultural festival in early 1948, where he sang his own composition "Azizah", he was spotted by director B.S. Rahjans who invited him to work as a back-up singer for Shaw Brothers studio films, based in Singapore. He accepted, and the next few weeks saw him working as a clapper-boy, assistant cameraman, and continuity person in addition to singing. His first acting role was in Cinta (1948) as a villain. In the next 18 years under the Malay Film Production unit of Shaw Brothers (popularly known as the Ampas Road studio) he acted in, composed music for and eventually wrote and directed dozens of Malay movies ranging from historical dramas to contemporary comedies. He won several acting and composing awards at the Asian Film Festival in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1964 he moved to Kuala Lumpur where he made another 18 films under the Merdeka Studio. He is believed to have composed about 250 songs. ^[2]

He married first, Junaidah Daeng Harris, from 1950 to 1954. They had two children.^[3]

He married second, Noorizan Mohd Noor, from 1955 to 1961.^[3]

He married third, Salmah "Saloma" Ismail, from 21 Dec 1961 until his death. They had five children.^[3]

P. Ramlee died on 29 May 1973 at age 44 from a heart attack. He was buried at Jalan Ampang Muslim Cemetery, in Luala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Wikipedia: P. Ramlee
2. ↑ IMDB: P. Ramlee
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} "P. Ramlee", IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0708422/
4. ↑ Find a Grave (has image), Find A Grave: Memorial #189810734 (accessed 18 April 2023), Memorial page for P. Ramlee (22 Mar 1929-29 May 1973), citing Jalan Ampang Muslim Cemetery, Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Maintained by letemrip (contributor 49084452).

Acknowledgements

• This profile has been contributed to by the members of the WikiTree 15 Nations Global Tour of 2023