Kyaw Hein (ကျော်ဟိန်း, [tɕɔ̀ héɪɰ̃]; born Kyaw Htay, 14 July 1947 – 11 July 2020) was a Burmese actor, film director and singer. He is the five-time winner of the Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards. He starred in and directed hundreds of films, and was considered one of the most important actors in Burmese cinema.[1] He retired in 2008, and became a Theravada Buddhist monk,[2] with the Dharma name Kittisāra (ကိတ္တိသာရ). He died as a monk on July 11, 2020 in Canberra, Australia.[3]
Kyaw Hein | |
|---|---|
| ကျော်ဟိန်း | |
| Born | Kyaw Htay (1947-07-14)14 July 1947 Rangoon, Burma |
| Died | 11 July 2020 (2020-07-12) (aged 72) Canberra, Australia |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1968–2008 |
| Spouse(s) | Sandar (1960s–1970s) Than Nwe Aye |
| Children | Aye Nyein Thu Khin Khin Kha Nay Winn Seint Seint Thu Pann Phyu Hmwe Poe Tu |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Dwe (nephew) |
| Awards | Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards (Best Actor for 1979, 1982, 1989, 2003, Best Supporting Actor for 1994) |
| Website | https://www.athithedi.com |
Kyaw Hein was born on July 14, 1947 on the Kyaung Kone Road in Sanchaung township. His father was a retired District Police Chief named John Maung Sein (DYSP) and his mother was a housewife named Cho Cho. He is the fourth child of six children. At an early age he joined the Sein Goli gang.
In 1952 he was taught at a ABM school from first to fourth grade. He failed the fourth grade exam and had to retake during the two summer holidays. In 1956, he moved to the Ahlone Township. He attended fifth grade at Unit Karen School near Home Road Station. In 1957, he moved again within the township to the Cushion School and attended sixth grade, seventh grade (twice), eighth grade and failed ninth grade (twice), then decided to dropped out. In 1964 he had moved from various of townships and in total transferred to 23 different Yangon Private schools (including night schools). He later dropped out of school on 16 different occasions and became homeless. In 1965, he moved to Kamaryut township. He successfully passed ninth grade at Daw Thar Htet School. In 1966, Dagon Township. Daw Nu Nu Khin helped Kyaw Hein enrolled to the tenth grade, but he joined the Navy after only three months at his private school. His ID number is 12205 and he left the Navy in 1967. He return to finish the tenth grade and passed. He later entered the film industry.
Kyaw Hein made his film debut with 1968's Hpuza Lanzon at age 20, but became widely known with his fourth film called Chit Tha-La Mon Tha-La.[4] In 1970 his wife Sandar entered the film industry and started her career as an actress. He has played multiple roles, most notably in movies such as 1979's A-Ka Ga A-Chit A-Hnit Ga Myitta (အကာကအချစ်၊ အနှစ်ကမေတ္တ), 1982's Mun-Tet Chein Hma Ne Win Thi (မွန်းတည့်ချိန်တွင် နေဝင်သည်), 1989's Pan Myaing Le Ga U-Yin Hmu (ပန်းမြိုင်လယ်က ဥယျာဉ်မှူ),and 2003's Nay Ga Mway De La (နေကမွေးတဲ့လ). All the pervious mention movies led him to win four National Actor Awards and one Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Motion Picture for a total of five Academy Awards. An honorable mention of his movie 1985’s Kyaee Yaung Saungsaw Daung (ကျီးယောင်ဆောင်သောဒေါင်).
In 1970, four years entering the film industry, he directed his first film Sein Shoet Mahote Sein (စိန်သို့မဟုတ်စိမ်). Kyaw Hein was also the lead designer and hand-painted the advertising poster under the pen name Nay Min Hteik Khaung (နေမင်းထိပ်ခေါင်). He was later nationally praised for directing the movie 1982's Mun-Tet Chein Hma Ne Win Thi (မွန်းတည့်ချိန်တွင် နေဝင်သည်).
Kyaw Hein also wrote many short stories and some novels. He was, at the time, the highest paid actor in television commercials. He also collaborated with many Burmese Musicians and even produced some of his own. The last film he directed was Kyaoe Taan (ကြိုးတန်).
In total he had made and starred in over 222 films in 1967 to 2008 (over 41 years), 362 video films, and has written fourteen songs and six books.
On November 4, 2008, Kyaw Hein retired from the film industry and became a theravada monk. Before becoming a monk, Kyaw Hein traveled all over Burma, calling it Kyaw Hein's last farewell visit. He was ordained a monk on July 11, 2020 at 9:27am Burmese Standard Time in Canberra. He acquired the pseudonym Sayadaw U Kittithara as his proper name. Many people have criticised him for holding sermons at monasteries without the time nor experience of learning buddhism as a monk.
In 2008 Sayadaw U Kittithara was one of the patron monk who helped the creation of the Bronze Buddha Image of Knowledge and Awareness at Botahtaung Pagoda in the Botataung Township, Yangon Region. Some has referred the temple as Kyaw Hein's temple after his conturbations.[citation needed]
He had a stroke three years before his death which led to his deterioration his health. Sayadaw U Kittithara died on July 11, 2020 at 12:55 in Canberra from complications after a stroke[5] at the age of 73. His nephew, Htin Lin ( Dwe ), died on July 11, 2007, coinciding with the date of their deaths.[6]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards | Best Actor | A Kar Ka A Chit A Hnit Ka Myittar | Won |
| 1982 | Moon Tae Chain Twin Nay Win The | Won | ||
| 1989 | Pan Myaing Lal Ka Oo Yin Mhu | Won | ||
| 1994 | Best Supporting Actor | Wai Lae Hmway Kyway Lae Hmway | Won | |
| 2003 | Best Actor | Nay Ka Mway Tae La | Won |