His near-Mexican looks stood him in good stead in Hollywood. And acting is just one of the arrows in the 79-year-old's quiver.
As far as sheer range of creative passions goes, few would be able to dethrone Thomas Burleigh Kurisinkal, a pioneer in the State's seafood export sector. He made his mark as actor, director, producer, music director, poet, painter and writer. Palmistry and magic too came calling.
A native of Fort Kochi, Mr Kurisinkal is the son of K. J. Burleigh, who was decorated with the Chevalier title by the then Pope.
In 1952, after his studies at Loyola College, Chennai, he acted as hero in a feature film Tiramala, in which veteran actor Satyan was the hero. “My character was that of a boatman-cum-angler, who falls in love with a rich man's daughter,” he says cheerfully. In 1955, he left for the University of California to study motion pictures.
It was here that he worked as a freelance actor, putting himself in the shoes of different characters.
“I had an agent in U.S.. I wanted to do Indian roles in Hollywood, but Mexican characters came my way – ones like playing cards at a tavern. I also acted in a children's movie. It was a struggle for existence 80 per cent of the time,” he says.
Among his highs in the film scene were acting with Frank Sinatra in the movie ‘Never So Few'. He had this to say on Hollywood actors – “They are casual and affectionate, much like ordinary people.”
On his return to Kerala, he acted in ‘Ithu Manushyano', which used the time-splicing technology as part of economising operations.
The movie had the famous song ‘Sukhamoru Bindu, Dukhamoru Bindu'. Mr. Kurisinkal also directed the comedy movie ‘Vellarikkapattanam', which had Prem Nazir as the hero.
He also published English poems, among them being a collection titled ‘Beyond Heart'. His cartoon book ‘O Kerala' was published three years ago. The versatile personality also was a part-time magician and knew the violin and the mandolin. He plans to release two novels – ‘The Sacred Savage' and ‘The Shadow of the Night'.
His U.S. links helped him establish contacts there for the export of shrimp. He began as a procurer (of shrimp) for an importing company, in an era when there were no ice factories and cold storages. His words of wisdom on seafood export runs thus – “One can ensure the freshness and quality of the exported fishes only if quality machinery is available or imported.” His son and sons in law manage the business now.
Mr. Kurisinkal is deeply pained by the ‘attitude' of present-day Keralites.
“The State's future is at stake because of increasing addiction to intoxicants and consumerism. People have plenty of money, which is not being used properly. Agriculture needs to develop and for that the land price has to be low,” he says.
