Merengnnage Edward Tennyson Cooray (සිංහල:මෙරෙඤඤගේ එඩ්වඩ් ටෙනිසන් කුරේ) (30 April 1952 – 28 September 2020) was an actor and comedian in Sri Lankan cinema and theater.
[1][2] One of the most popular comedians ever in Sinhala cinema with a career spanned more than three decades,[3][4] Cooray was best known for comedy roles in several blockbuster film franchises such as Re Daniel Dawal Migel, Cheriyo, Peralikarayo, Wada Bari Tarzan as well as Somy Boys.
His father Merengnnage Edgar Stanley Arthur Cooray, who worked at Gamini Bus Company, learned to be a pastor for some time and also was a great reader of good English literature.
[10] He was married to Malsiri Eranjani and the couple had one daughter, Madhumihiri, who is a teacher at Bishop’s College.
[8] On 28 September 2020, Cooray died at the National Hospital in Colombo at the age of 68 due to a sudden heart attack.
The body was taken to the Rawathawatte Methodist Church at 4 pm and the final rites were performed at the cemetery on 1 October 2020.
(It was directed by Dinesh Priyasad in the 1990s as a film starring Gamini Fonseka in the lead role and the dialogues and screenplay by Tennyson).
His career completely changed when he met Giwantha Arthasad's younger brother, Dinesh Priyasad.
Later he got a chance to be the script writer for Priyasad's blockbuster hit Demodara Palama, where he played the role 'Vali Cooray' opposite to Gamini Fonseka.
[17][18] He has also appeared in comedy films with fellow actor Bandu Samarasinghe on numerous occasions, including Re Daniel Dawal Migel, Cheriyo, Kolompoor, Parliament Jokes, and Somy Boys.
[8] All the films were blockbuster hits where as Bandu-Tenny duo made a comedy cinema wave during 1990s and early new millennium.
[10] Cooray wrote the story for Priyasad's Kolompoor and acted with Bandu, which became a blockbuster in that year.
[23] In the same year, he acted in the comedy theater play Reliy Remix produced by Sisil Gunasekara.