Sivaji Ganesan

Sivaji Ganesan
Sivaji Ganesan
	Sivaji Ganesan in Deivamagan Movie 1969 Vijay Character
Born	Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy; 1 October 1928; Villupuram, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	21 July 2001 (aged 72); Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Other names	Nadigar Thilagam; Simmakuralon
Occupations	Actor; producer; politician;
Works	Full list
Political party	Tamizhaga Munnetra Munnani (1988–1989)
Other political; affiliations	Dravidar Kazhagam (1946-1949); Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (1949–1956); Independent Politician (1956-1961); Tamil National Party (1961-1964); Indian National Congress (1964–1969), (1977–1988); Congress (O) (1969–1975); Congress (R) (1975-1977); Janata Dal (1989–1993);
Spouse	Kamala (m. 1952)
Children	4, including Ramkumar and Prabhu
Parent(s)	Father : Chinnaiya Manrayar; Mother : Rajamani Ammal
Relatives	Dushyanth Ramkumar (grandson); Vikram Prabhu (grandson); Shivaji Dev (grandson)
Awards	Kalaimamani (1962); Padma Shri (1966); Padma Bhushan (1984); Honorary doctorate (1986); Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier) (1995); Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1996); NTR National Award (1998);

Villupuram. Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001), better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ganesan is acknowledged as one of the greatest Indian actors of all time and among the most imitated one by other actors. He was known for his versatility and the variety of roles he depicted on screen, which also gave him the Tamil nickname Nadigar Thilagam (transl. the pride of actors). In a career that spanned close to five decades, he had acted in 288 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. Sivaji Ganesan is the only actor in Tamil cinema to have played the lead role in over 250 films.

Ganesan was the first Indian actor to win the "Best Actor" award at the first Afro-Asian Film Festival held in Cairo, Egypt in 1960. Many leading South Indian actors have stated that their acting was influenced by Ganesan. In 1997, Ganesan was conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest honour for films in India. He was also the first Indian actor to be made a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In addition, he received National Film Award (Special Jury), four Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.

Ganesan is remembered as an iconic figure of Tamil cinema. Upon his death, The Los Angeles Times described him as "the Marlon Brando of India's film industry".