Liyanage Don Leena Piyasili de Silva (Sinhala: ලියනගේ දොන් ලීනා පියසිලි ද සිල්වා; 30 October 1936 – 1 December 2023), popularly referred to as Leena de Silva (Sinhala: ලීනා ද සිල්වා), was a Sri Lankan actress who worked in Sri Lankan cinema, theatre and television.
[1][2] One of the earliest pillars of Sri Lankan cinema, de Silva contributed many critically-acclaimed films of her generation, with a career spanning more than six decades.
[4] Her father, Don Simon de Silva worked as a supervisor at Ceylon Cargo Board Company.
During school times at the age of 12, she learned dancing from renowned dancer and actor Shesha Palihakkara, who introduced Leena on to the cinema screen.
[6] Her maiden cinematic appearance came through 1954 film Ahankara Sthree along with her future husband Ravindra Rupasena while in grade 9 at the school.
However, due to sudden death of her husband, de Silva quit from acting for two years and returned with 1980 film Ganga Addara.
[7] Apart from cinema, de Silva also acted in a few stage dramas such as Thattu Gewal, Dolosweni Raathriya and Julius Caesar.