[1] He attended Dalupotha Roman Catholic School but was forced to drop out in the seventh grade to support his poverty-stricken family.
[3] An encounter with Welgampola Malachias Perera, better known as "Malathias Master", led to Fernando joining the musician's orchestra as a mouth organ and mandolin player.
Fernando contributed to the recording of Rukmani Devi and H. W. Rupasinghe's song Sri Buddha Gaya Vihare in 1939.
[2] In 1947, Fernando took a triple role in the production of the first Sinhalese film Kadawunu Poronduwa, an adaption of Jayammanne's play.
[1] Fernando worked extensively in the 1950s in such trades as assistant director on Banda Nagarayata Pemineema (1952) and Prema Tharangaya (1953), screenwriter on films like Puduma Leli (1953), Ahankara Sthree (1954), Mathalang (1955) and Duppathage Duka (1956) and music director and singer in Pitisara Kella (1953) and Saradiel (1954).
[2] Fernando has been involved to introduce many new faces to Sinhala cinema, where they became the popular stars in the coming years.
He trained Clarice de Silva as an actress and introduced Rohini Jayakody and Ravindra Rupasena to cinema with the film Ahankara Sthree.
Popular actors, Anton Gregory, Bernard Reginald and Andrew Jayamanne entered cinema under the guidance of Hugo Fernando.