KOLKATA: Padma Shri awardee legendary Bengali actress Supriya Devi died of cardiac arrest at her Ballygunge residence here on Friday. She was 83.
Supriya Devi’s daughter Soma Chatterjee informed that the actress was suffering from prolonged illness and breathed her last at 6 am on Friday morning.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee took to Twitter and condoled the death of the veteran actress. "Very saddened at the passing of legendary actress of Bengal, Supriya Chowdhury (Debi). We will fondly remember her through her films. Condolences to her family and fans," she said.
Born in Myitkyina in northern Burma in 1935, Supriya was awarded by then Burmese Prime Minister Thakin Nu for her dancing
skills at the age of 7, when she also made her acting debut in two plays directed by her lawyer father Gopal Chandra Banerjee. The family had to take an arduous trek from Burma to Calcutta after the Japanese invaded the nation in 1942.
She debuted on the silver screen in then superstar Uttam Kumar starrer 'Basu Paribar' in 1952 and made since then, made her mark in for her roles in movies such as 'Meghe Dhaka Tara', 'Amrapali', 'Komal Gandhar', 'Swaralipi', 'Teen Adhyay' and 'Sanyasi Raja'. In all, she acted in over 45 films, the latest being Namesake in 2006.
She was conferred with West Bengal highest civilian honour Banga Vibhushan in 2011 and with the country’s fourth highest civilian honour Padma Shri in 2014. The actress married Bishwanath Choudhury in 1954 and her daughter Soma was born of the union. However, later she lived in with superstar Uttam Kumar.