Shariff Medan (born Shariff bin Ismail) was a prominent bangsawan (Malay opera) performer, theatre producer and film actor. Hailed as the “Father of Bangsawan” for his expertise in the genre, he went on to feature or star in a number of the very earliest Malay films, including Leila Majnun (1934). He wrote and produced numerous scripts for Cathay-Keris Films from the '50s to the '70s, and also wrote scripts for television and radio programmes.

Born in Medan, Indonesia, Shariff Medan grew up in Penang, and later Acheh, in a family environment affected by parental turmoil but experiencing early immersion in the world of bangsawan (Malay opera). Bangsawan had originally been entertainment for royalty but later spread to become a popular art form, particularly among Peranakans and rich Malays.

When he started out in bangsawan, Shariff took any part that required a child actor, including girl’s roles. Eventually he played the heroic character Orang Muda, who, together with the heroine Sri Panggong was one of the two main protagonists and attractions of the opera, and here his talents and popularity earned him widespread fame.

The 1920s were the golden age for bangsawan and artists could make a good living. Shariff himself moved with the operas and eventually decided to migrate to Singapore on a cargo ship, but found it initially hard to make a living. He didn’t return to bangsawan until 1931, whereupon he again worked and toured with opera companies.

In 1932, the film Samarang (Out of the Sea) by Ward Wing (Pathé) was set in Singapore and featured Malay bangsawan actors, one of whom was Shariff. This shifted Shariff's career for a new course and he went on to star in the first Malay talkie Laila Majnun in 1934.

The Japanese invasion caused a temporary hiatus for the bangsawan world, but some performers were co-opted as tools of Japanese propaganda. Post-war Singapore then also saw a decline in bangsawan activities, but Shariff again found work touring in Malaya, Borneo, Sabah and Sarawak, before returning to Singapore in 1952 with the Grand Jubilee Opera, eventually furthering his career in the Malay film industry. In the 1950s and 1960s he appeared in a number of Malay films, including his first co-starring role in the first full-length Malay film in colour, Buluh Perindu (The Magic Flute), screened in Singapore in 1953.

In 1954, he joined Cathay-Keris Films as a writer and producer, and he became a prolific scriptwriter for the company, writing almost all the scripts for Cathay-Keris Films. When Cathay-Keris Films studios closed in 1973, Shariff carried on with his creative endeavours as a writer and advisor for many radio and television programmes. He later went on to be cast in the 1970s Malay TV series Sandiwara. Shariff Medan passed away in 1997.

Photo credit: Sinema Malaysia