Titien Sumarni

Raden Ajeng Titien Sumarni (28 December 19? – 13 May 1966) was an Indonesian actress, producer, and businesswomen who was active in the 1950s. She was called the most beautiful actress of the 1950s and became the first actress to established film company.

Born in Surabaya, she moved to Tasikmalaya as a child and developed an interest in stage acting, trained by her uncle and future husband Mustari Natanegara, later acting for republican troops during the Indonesian National Revolution. Sumarni began acting in film in 1951, making her debut with Seruni Laju. Over her five-year career Sumarni acted in thirty films, established her own film production company, and became one of the most popular Indonesian actresses of her time. Following her final film, Sumarni fell out of the spotlight, eventually dying in 1966.

Early life
Sumarni was born on 28 December 19? in Surabaya, Dutch East Indies, as the only child of Memet Sukardi and RA Sarimanah. She was of mixed Javanese–Sundanese descent. Her father, an assistant wedana in Surabaya, died when she was three. Sumarni's mother started a hotel business to earn money for their daily need, and when Sumarni was aged six she moved to her mother's town in Tasikmalaya and spent her childhood there.

Marriages, relationships, and children
While in junior high school in Bandung, at the age of 15, Sumarni began studying acting under her uncle Raden Mustari Natanegara, who was 16 years her senior. They married in 1948; according to the author Rd. Lingga Wisjnu, this was taken as revenge against her lover, an Indonesian military officer who cheated on her with Natanegara's wife. After marriage, Sumarni dropped out of school and began a career as a stage actress, entertaining troops fighting in the Indonesian National Revolution until she moved with her husband to Jakarta. The couple had a son, Tommy Sjarif Natanegara, who became a singer using the professional name Tommy Soemarni & Co.

Sometime after she gained popularity, she divorced Natanegara and married Laurens Saerang, a rich entrepreneur from Minahasa, in 1957, but ended up in divorced. She then married Subjakto, an entrepreneur from Jombang, and also ended up in divorced.

Sumarni was reported to have had affair with several man, such as Enoch Datubrata, which made her gave birth to her son, Mochamad Jusuf Danubrata. She then had an affair with Entje Senu Abdul Rachman which also made her gave birth to a son, Mochamad Patah Abdurachman. Sumarni also had an affair with Sampetoding, which resulted in two sons, Mochamad Nur and Mochamad Rahmat Sampe.

In 1959, Sumarni started a relationship with Muhammad Jahja Ali, an entrepreneur from Bandung who was her father colleague. They first met in 1939 when Ali was working as an employee at Hollandsche Beton Maatschappij (HBM) in Surabaya. In 1945, Sumarni befriended Ali's wife and often came to his house in order to meet his sister-in-law who was her friend. After she married and moved to Jakarta, they then became rare to meet. They meet again in December 1958 at Persari Studio when Ali currently working on buildings owned by Djamaluddin Malik. They later married and then feuded in August 1959. Sumarni accused Ali of not being responsible for her pregnancy, even when she experienced bleeding which resulted in the death of her baby, Ali never came. Due to his actions, she demanded that Ali compensate him for losses amounting to Rp. 5 million. Ali later denied that he was the biological father of Sumarni's child because he last saw her in April 1959. He said that Sumarni was pregnant with her second husband's child and was filing for divorce at the Surabaya religious court. The feud between Sumarni and Ali attracted the attention of the Marriage, Dispute and Divorce Advisory Board in West Java who stated that the feud between them It is a mistake in marriage that if there is a problem that makes both parties unhappy, they are allowed to divorce amicably. Their feud later ended and they remained married until Sumarni's death in May 1966.

Style
Sumarni is considered as one of glamorous Indonesian stars by Film Varia, she owned two luxury cars through her life.

Illness and death
On 7 August 1959, Sumarni who was in a state of depression was seeing walking barefoot in the street of Bandung, and later caused traffic jam. She walked seven kilometers wearing a pink shirt and black bottoms, accompanied by dozens of motorbikes and rickshaw pullers. Sumarni later stated in an interview that she felt sad and confused because he didn't remember where the Priangan residential police station was. She was then stopped by a policeman at a fork in the road because she was very tired and then taken by him by truck to her family's house. Sumarni was reportedly depressed due to failed on suing her lover, Muhammad Jahja Ali, who she claimed to be the biological father of her children. On 8 August, she reported Ali to police.

After being found depressed and sick, Sumarni was treated by pedicab driver, who then took her for treatment to a shaman called Mamah Atjeng. Sumarni then lived with Atjeng for two months, and was later found by a journalist, Hajat Tatos Kusuma, who later took her to Bandung Advent Hospital in Coblong, Bandung. At that time, she was living alone, had lost a considerable amount of weight, and was suffering from a lung infection.

After being treated for a week, Sumarni's health began to improved. But later, she received and eat a black sticky rice from anonymous person, which made her health began to deteriorated. The doctor then planned to doing operation on her, but Sumarni died on 13 May 1966 at 23.53 PM (UTC+07:00), and her age was reported as 38. Her doctor, Benjamin K. Supit, stated that she died from poisoning. On 13 June, Harian Selecta wrote that Sumarni died from the complication of her long illness coupled with bouts of defecation continuously which makes her dehydrated.

Career
Sumarni became interested in the Indonesian film industry in 1950, after seeing Nana Mayo in Inspektur Rachman. With her husband's permission, she entered the industry in 1951 through an acquaintance, Harun Al-Rasyid, who was an employee at the Golden Arrow Film Company. Al-Rasyid in turn introduced her to Rd Ariffien, a director. Sumarni soon made her feature film debut in Golden Arrow's Seruni Laju; this was followed by a role in Kino Drama Atelier's Kenangan Masa and Gadis Olahraga (both 1951), though as the films' production schedules coincided Sumarni had contract difficulties. She was also featured on Life and Time magazine in the same year.

After the death of Dr. Huyung, the manager and director for Kino Drama Atelier, Sumarni was contracted to Djamaluddin Malik's Persari, but migrated to Fred Young's Bintang Surabaja after she promoted cigarettes during an exhibition. There would subsequently be rumors into 1955 that her relations with Persari were stressed, though she later made peace with Malik. In 1952, Sumarni starred in five films, such as Si Mientje, Satria Desa, Terkabul, Pengorbanan, Pahit-Pahit Manis, and Apa Salahku, where she was often cast with S. Bono in a romantic role. Her performance in those films attracted Malik again who then cast her in Sepandjang Malioboro (1952). Sumarni's first production with Bintang Surabaja was musical comedy Putri Solo (1953), who became major commercial success, breaking box-office records throughout the country. In these film, she portrayed Sulastri who trapped in a love triangle with man who already has a fiancee. Sumarni also starred in another three films that year, such as Asam Di Gunung Garam Di Laut, Gara-Gara Hadiah, and Lagu Kenangan. Sumarni's fan mail increased from 20 to 30 letters a day to several hundred. She was praised for her acting and sex appeal by film critique, who later said that she was quite interesting for Indonesian cinema. In her next films, Sumarni was always cast as a flirtatious women and often kissed her co-star.

By 1954, Sumarni was one of the most popular Indonesian actresses. She was widely recognized by the mole over her lip and was considered one of Indonesia's most beautiful actresses. Dunia Film described her as the Marilyn Monroe of Indonesia. Reportedly President Sukarno's favorite actress, Sumarni was deemed the "Queen of the Silver Screen" after a survey conducted by several magazines, including Kentjana and Dunia Film, in 1954. She starred in a nine film that year, including Lewat Djam Malam.

Sumarni established her own film company, Titien Sumarni Motion Pictures, in 1954, and became the first actress in Indonesia to have a film company. Rather than build her own studios, Sumarni used those of Usmar Ismail's Perfini, paying nothing; the company considered its renting of the facilities to be repayment of debts they had incurred from Mustari during the production of Krisis (1953). Titien Sumarni Motion Pictures produced five films. The first, Putri dari Medan, starred Sumarni as the titular woman from Medan. While shooting for the film, Sumarni issued a statement that she approved kissing scenes in films if required by the director or producer. This made her husband issued a statement "I don't mind my wife Titien Sumarni being kissed in every film scene if that's what the director or businessman requires, but I think that as an eastern nation with delicate feelings, having to kiss is not necessary, on the contrary it can cause damage". After having her first child, Sumarni took a hiatus from acting. Her company, however, produced two films during this time: Mertua Sinting and Tengah Malam. Two final films, Sampah and Saidjah Putri Pantai, followed in 1955 and 1956; Sumarni again took the lead roles. She made her final film, Djandjiku, in 1956, produced by Djamaluddin Malik and G.H. Sawlani as a way to compete with Indian films that were popular in Indonesia at the time. After retired from the film industry, Sumarni became a businesswomen and spent her money by buying shares in a hotel and batik business. She later stated that during her divorce from Mustari and her marriage to Subjakto, she only relied on the income she earned from the film Djandjiku and doesn't have an additional wealth.

Filmography
During her five-year career, Sumarni acted in thirty films. She was also sound manager on one film and, through her company Titien Sumarni Motion Pictures, producer of five.

Cast

 * Seruni Laju (1951)
 * Kenangan Masa (1951)
 * Gadis Olahraga (1951)
 * Main-Main Djadi Sungguhan (1951)
 * Dunia Gila (1951)
 * Sepandjang Malioboro (1951)
 * Apa Salahku (1952)
 * Pahit-Pahit Manis (1952)
 * Pengorbanan (1952)
 * Terkabul (1952)
 * Satria Desa (1952)
 * Si Mientje (1952)
 * Ajah Kikir (1953)
 * Asam Digunung Garam Dilaut (1953)
 * Gara-gara Hadiah (1953)
 * Putri Solo (1953)
 * Lagu Kenangan (1953)
 * Dewi dan Pemilihan Umum (1954)
 * Antara Tugas dan Tjinta (1954)
 * Kasih Sajang (1954)
 * Klenting Kuning (1954)
 * Konde Tjioda (1954)
 * Lewat Djam Malam (1954)
 * Perkasa Alam (1954)
 * Putri dari Medan (1954)
 * Sedarah Sedaging (1954)
 * Senjum Derita (1955)
 * Sampah (1955)
 * Saidjah Putri Pantai (1956)
 * Djandjiku (1956)

Crew

 * Putri dari Medan (1954)
 * Mertua Sinting (1954)
 * Tengah Malam (1955)
 * Putri Solo Kembali (1956)
 * Sampah (1956)
 * Saidjah Putri Pantai (1956)