Darussalam (actor)

Darussalam was born in Bengkulu, a city in Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, on 12 September 1920. He completed his elementary studies at a Dutch-run school for native Indonesians before continuing on to a MULO (junior-high school).[1] Though he dropped out in his second year,[2] Darussalam was able to become a nurse. After two years in the profession, in 1938 he left for the colonial capital of Batavia, where he completed four years of nursing studies at the Centrale Burgerlijke Ziekeninrichting (now Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital).[1]

Following the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, Darussalam became a teacher. He also entered the theatre, at first with Irama Masa, a theatrical company established by occupation government.[1] While with this group he met Netty Herawaty, an actress with the company ten years his junior. The two were soon married; according to an interview with Kentjana magazine, they fell in love while on a boat bringing Irama Masa back from Makassar. By 1953 the couple had one child, a daughter named Rustiany.[3][4]

In 1945, shortly following the proclamation of Indonesian independence, Darussalam established his own troupe, Trimurti, together with Herawaty. The troupe toured Java during the Indonesian National Revolution and supported the Indonesians fighting against the returning Dutch colonial forces. The company had collapsed by 1947, however, and Darussalam and Herawaty joined Djamaluddin Malik's Bintang Timur. By 1949 they were working with Fred Young's Bintang Soerabaja.[1][5]

Darussalam and his wife Netty Herawaty, 1954

Young, who had owned the film production company Majestic Pictures before the war, returned to the cinema in 1949. He established the Bintang Surabaja Film Corporation and adapted several of his troupe's stage plays into film.[6] Darussalam and Herawaty made their feature film debut in Young's Saputangan (1949), based on the stage play of the same name.[1] The couple stayed with Bintang Surabaja for two years, appearing in seven further films for the company, including Bintang Surabaja 1951 (1950), Djembatan Merah (1950), and Selamat Berdjuang, Masku! (1951).[7][8]

In this time, Malik had established his own film company, Persari. Darussalam and Herawaty had migrated there by 1951, establishing themselves with roles in such films as Sepandjang Malioboro (1951) and Bakti Bahagia (1951).[1] In 1952, Darussalam was among the Persari actors and crew sent to the Philippines to study film. During their nearly two years in the country, the group made two Ansco Colour films in collaboration with LVN Studio. The first of these, the Indonesian version of Rodrigo de Villa (1952), featured Herawaty as the film's female lead, opposite Rd Mochtar; Darussalam was given a supporting role.[1]

Upon the group's return to Indonesia, Darussalam appeared in such Persari films as Gara-gara Hadiah (1953) and Air Pasang (1954).[9] By 1954 he was considered part of the company's "Big Four", together with Herawaty, Titien Sumarni and Rd Mochtar,[10] though the Indonesian film historian Misbach Yusa Biran writes that he remained in Herawaty's shadow.[11] In mid-1954 Darussalam and Herawaty were sent to Singapore to build connections between Persari and Keris Film Productions;[12] they ultimately produced three films while there.[1]

In mid-1957, Malik was accused of corruption and placed under house arrest. The following year Persari was closed and its staff dispersed.[13] Darussalam thus returned to theatre with Herawaty. In 1958 he established his own troupe, the Herawaty National Theatre, with Herawaty as the troupe's star.[1] Aside from one performance, in 1960's Ibu Mertua, Darussalam remained off the screen until being cast in Malin Kundang (1971), a film produced by Malik's widow Elly Yunara.[1][14] Over the following decade Darussalam appeared in over a dozen films, including Jembatan Merah (1973), Surat Undangan (1975), and Pembalasan Si Pitung.[1][9] Together with Herawaty, as well as actors such as Fifi Young and Tan Tjeng Bok, he starred in the television serial Senyum Jakarta. The show lasted from 1972 to 1980.[11]

Darussalam remained active on television for much of the 1980s, headlining the serial Keluarga Pak Darus (1982–1988). He also appeared in more than twenty films, including Titian Serambut Dibelah Tujuh (1982), Pengantin Pantai Biru (1983), and several Warkop films. For his role in Kodrat, Darussalam received the Citra Award for Best Supporting Actor.[11] Netty died in 1989, the same year that Darussalam received the Surjosoemanto Award from the National Film Council. Darussalam died four years later, on 26 April 1993.[11]

Darussalam won a Citra Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 1987 Indonesian Film Festival for his performance as Mustakim in Kodrat. The following year, he was nominated for another Citra Award for Best Supporting Actor for his acting in Ayahku, but lost to Didi Petet (Cinta Anak Jaman).[9][15]

In his nearly forty-year career, Darussalam appeared in some seventy-seven films.[1][9]