Cletus Mendis

Gammada Liyanage Cletus Paulinus Mendis, popularly as Cletus Mendis (born July 17, 1949 as [Sinhala]) was an award-winning Sri Lankan actor, mainly works in cinema and television. He has received a number of awards for his villain acting, including the Sarasaviya, OCIC, Raigam, Presidential festivals.
His elder brother, Vinicius Mendis died in October, 2019 at the age of 75.
Personal life.
Cletus is married to Dorrin Jayakody in 1987 and they have single son, who was born in 1994.
Acting career.
In 1971, before moving into silver screen, Mendis did dramas at Church feasts and taught gymnastics and martial arts to the youth at Katupotha. Then 1973, he went Colombo to face an interview with Henry Chandrawansa and then met Sugath Samarakoone at that interview. In 1977, he worked as the stunt director of the film "Wanagatha Kella".
His first cinema acting came through 1978 epic history film "Veera Puran Appu" as a supporting actor. Then he acted in "Yali Pipunu Malak" in 1983. His first villain character came through 1982 film "Paramitha", which turned his filming career towards villain roles throughout the rest of the decades.
In 2004, Mendis joined Vishva Kala Sarasaviya at Mount Lavinia and met Udayakantha Warnasuriya. In 2021, he was honored with the 'Deshabhimani Keerthi Kalabushana' award.