Metta Rungrat

Metta Rungrat was born Darawadee Duangdara on 15 December 1942 in Phra Nakhon, now part of Bangkok. Her father, Boonsong Duangdara, was a well known stage actor who later played the village headman in the film Ped Noi (1968), and her mother was Cha-um Duangdara. She trained in Thai classical dance at Chaloemsat Suksa School, and as a teenager she was chosen to perform in the live dance dramas broadcast monthly by Thai TV Channel 4 at Bang Khun Phrom, in the same group as the future actress Suda Chuenban.

Songwriter Chalee Intaravijit and actress Sarinthip Siriwan, who saw her playing table tennis at Channel 4, encouraged her to try films. She made her debut in a supporting role in Ded Dok Fa (1961), played her first villain in Chom Chai Wiang Fa (1962) opposite Orasa Isarangkul na Ayutthaya and Chana Sri-ubon, and took her first leading role in Wai Roon Wai Khanong (1962), which won her the Golden Doll award for best actress.

She starred with Sombat Metanee in Nam Tan Mai Wan (1964) and Sam Mongkut (1965), and played Talamae Kanthima in the three films of Phu Chana Sip Thit (1966 to 1967), directed by Neramit, a part that called for sword dancing and sustained drama. Through the late 1960s and 1970s she appeared in a very large number of films, often as the lively best friend, the jealous rival or the villain. Her credits include Ko Sawat Hat Sawan, Mueang Mae Mai, Lom Nuea, Ruea Manut, Kaew Khon Lek, Waew Siang Sueng and Chom Mekhin. Rao Rak Kan Mai Dai (1970), directed by Prince Bhanubandhu Yugala, gave her one of her most daring roles.

She also worked abroad. As Chitra Ratana she appeared in The Secret of the Black Ruby, an Italian, German, French and Thai co-production shot in Thailand, and in the Italian and German film Das Geheimnis der drei Dschunken, shot in Hong Kong. In 1973 she appeared opposite M. G. Ramachandran in the Tamil film Ulagam Sutrum Valiban, in the song Pachai Kili Muthucharam, and in 1976 she played in the Warner Bros. action film Hot Potato, shot in Chiang Mai. She directed the film Sao Chai Chao Oei (1979) and later acted in television dramas. In 2007 she received an honorary award at the Golden Television Awards.

She was married to Amnuay Kitsuwan and in later life used the name Darawadee Kitsuwan. In 1973 she was among the passengers of an army helicopter that crashed in Nakhon Pathom province after a trip to the Thung Yai Naresuan forest; the trip, which involved senior military officers, became a public scandal in the months before the 14 October 1973 uprising. In her final years she lived in the Khum Klao area of Min Buri, Bangkok, with a caregiver who had looked after her for about ten years.

Metta Rungrat was found dead in an upstairs bedroom of her home in Soi Khum Klao 4/1, Saen Saep, Min Buri district, Bangkok, on the afternoon of 3 November 2026. She was 83. Police were alerted at about 4.40 pm, after her caregiver returned from a short trip and found her. She had a gunshot wound to the right temple, a handgun was found nearby, and police reported no sign of a struggle or disturbance. Her body was sent to the Police General Hospital's forensic institute for examination.

Her younger brother, Sumeth, told Thai media that she had suffered from Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and thyroid problems, had often spoken about her failing health, and that the family did not suspect anyone else. He said Buddhist funeral rites would be held at Wat Thong Samrit. Her death was reported by the Bangkok Post, Khaosod, TNN and Thai Post, and was also covered in India, where she was remembered for her role with M. G. Ramachandran.

Metta Rungrat was one of the busiest Thai actresses of the 1960s and 1970s, the golden age of Thai popular cinema, and one of the few of her generation to work in European, American and Indian productions. Her Golden Doll award in 1962 and her nickname, the Black Pearl of Asia, kept her name familiar to Thai audiences long after she stopped acting.