• Sunetra Sastry is an English make-up artist, best known for being the ex-wife of actor Rowan Atkinson.
• She has a net worth estimated at $650,000, but may have benefitted from the wealth of her former husband, who is estimated to have a net worth of over $130 million.
• Sunetra had a troubled childhood, and her parents initially didn't approve of her pursuing a career in make-up.
• Sunetra met Rowan in 1986 while working on a make-up project and the two married in 1989.
• The couple separated in 2014 and the divorce was finalized the following year.

 

Who is Sunetra Sastry?

Sunetra Sastry was born in 1957 in England, and is a make-up artist, but best known for being the ex-wife of actor Rowan Atkinson, famous worldwide for his portrayal of the character Mr. Bean. He’s also worked on other popular films, such as “Johnny English” and “The Lion King”. The two were together for 25 years before divorcing.

The Wealth of Sunetra Sastry

Sunetra Sastry’s net worth is estimated at $650,000, but it’s probable that she benefitted from the wealth of her former husband, Rowan Atkinson, who has a net worth estimated to be over $130 million, and from the divorce settlement.

Life and Career

Sunetra had a troubled childhood as she was subject to a lot of racism in England. She is of English and Indian descent, with her mother belonging to a high-class family who relinquished her title after she fell in love with an Indian man of lower caste. Due to this, she was never given any details by her mother, who stated that the marriage was worth being disowned for.

After matriculating from high school, Sunetra developed a strong interest in make-up and finding a career in that particular industry.

Her parents didn’t approve of it at first, though it did not stop them from letting her enroll at London’s Beauty College. Her parents pressed for her to shift to nursing, but eventually gave in and supported her passion.

Following the completion of her studies, she began working in the UK entertainment industry and met Rowan Atkinson while working on the set of the TV series “Black Adder”. Following that work, she took on more projects, including the movie entitled “Smack & Thistle” which aired on the BBC.

Husband – Rowan Atkinson

Rowan didn’t initially pursue a career in acting, taking up a degree in electrical engineering, and even completing a master’s degree. He was taking up his doctorate before he discovered his passion for acting. In 1976, he attracted attention at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where he wrote and performed several sketches. This led him to radio work in “The Atkinson People”, in which he interviewed fictional great men who he also played. He started gaining television work too, beginning with “Not the Nine O’Clock News” and “Canned Laughter”.

After success in those projects, he was cast to become the titular character in the show “Blackadder”. It was initially set-up as a one-off production in which he played an anti-hero, but its success meant that a series was set up, with each season tackling a different descendant of Blackadder from the Middle-Ages up to World War I. The series proved to be one of the most successful on BBC, and Atkinson established himself as one of the country’s top comedy stars.

Rowan Atkinson

Mr. Bean and Other Atkinson Projects

In 1990, Atkinson re-invented himself with another character named Mr. Bean, in the titular sitcom which ran for five years. The character was based on an idea he had while he was studying for his master’s degree – Mr. Bean is described as a child in an adult man’s body, who often causes a lot of problems while doing everyday tasks. The character and the show met with wide international acclaim, gaining him multiple awards in the process. One of its strong points was that Mr. Bean used very little dialogue, making his character relatable to an international audience.

While working on “Mr. Bean” he also voiced the character Zazu for the animated film “The Lion King”. The film tells the story of a young lion and his path towards becoming the king of his land, and was one of the most successful animated films created by Disney. In 2003, he was cast as the titular character in the film “Johnny English”; the film is a parody of secret agent films made popular by franchises such as “James Bond”. Over the latter part of his career, Atkinson has often taken on one-off projects playing his character Mr. Bean.

He is acclaimed as one of the funniest actors from the UK, and continues to do film and television work, including a recent TV series portrayal of George Simenon’s “Maigret”.

Personal Life

Sunetra met Rowan in 1986 while working on the make-up for his co-star Stephen Fry in “Black Adder”. Rowan took notice of her, and convinced Fry to swap make-up artists so that he could get to know her. After a few months of working together, the two started dating, became engaged in 1989, and married a year later with Fry as Atkinson’s best man. They had two children, and stayed together for 24 years before suddenly announcing a separation.

The couple made plans for their legal separation known in 2014, and rumors started that their relationship fell apart due to the actor having an extra-marital affair. While it was never confirmed, shortly after separating Rowan started dating comedian Louise Ford. His divorce from Sastry was finalized the following year, as he did not appear to the proceeding leading to a quick judgment of the case. His actions have been criticized heavily, especially by his daughter. Since then, Sunetra has quietly moved away from the spotlight; on the other hand, her ex-husband recently had a third child.

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Author

Benjy is currently a reporter for BiographyPedia based in Adelaide, Australia. Prior to joining BiographyPedia in July 2019, he was a Bizarre TV reporter and theatre critic at TheSun. Benjy has also written for DailyMail and TMZ. Benjy studied journalism at Goldsmiths University of London, graduating in 2009. You can contact him at [email protected].

1 Comment

  1. It is astounding that anyone can write an article these days.

    ”her mother belonging to a high-class family who relinquished her title after she fell in love with an Indian man of lower caste”

    Lower caste??? Sastry is one of the common surnames among Indian Brahmins. Sastry refers to a scholar and means “one who is proficient in the Sastras” in Sanskrit.

    Or do you mean it in a racist way that Indians are a ‘lower’ race’?

    Pathetic.

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