Shanmugasundaram was an Indian

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

who has appeared in Tamil films. He began his career as an actor by starring in ''

Ratha Thilagam ''Ratha Thilagam'' () is a 1963 Indian Tamil-language romantic war film directed by Dada Mirasi. The film stars Sivaji and Savitri Ganesan (no relation). Based on the Sino-Indian border dispute of 1962, it was released on 14 September 1963. The ...

'' (1963) and '' Karnan'' (1964), and continued his career for seven decades. He is also a dubbing artist. He has acted in over 500 Films in Tamil cinema industry. He died on 15 August 2017.

Career

Shanmugasundaram was born in Chennai to a family of businesspeople. When he was studying in college, he had accompanied one of his actor friends to a drama performance, and as one of the junior artists did not perform well, he was brought in spontaneously. To the surprise of many, he had done that role with efficiency, which earned him appreciation spontaneously. He then moved on to work in Tamil theatre, notably appearing as

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

in a play also featuring

Kannadasan Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was an Indian philosopher, poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important lyricists in India. Freq ...

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Gan ...

was impressed by his performances and recruited him to make film acting debut with ''

'' (1963), where he portrayed a Chinese army major. He next went on to play the mythological character of Salliya Chakravarthy in

B. R. Panthulu Budaguru Ramakrishnaiah Panthulu (26 July 1910 – 8 October 1974) was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is best known for directing films in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. His most popular films are '' Karnan'', ''Veerapandiya ...

's critically acclaimed '' Karnan'' (1964), a disabled man in

K. S. Gopalakrishnan K. S. Gopalakrishnan was an Indian screenwriter, director, producer, and lyricist, who worked in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films. Since the early 1960s, he directed 70 films. He spent most of his career directing and producing movies with soc ...

's ''Vazhaiyadi Vazhai'' and a prince in ''

Dasavatharam The Dashavatara ( sa, दशावतार, ) are the ten primary avatars of Vishnu, a principal Hindu god. Vishnu is said to descend in the form of an avatar to restore cosmic order. The word ''Dashavatara'' derives from , meaning "ten", an ...

'' (1976). Shanmugasundaram's role in the 1989 Tamil film, ''

Karagattakaran ''Karakattakkaran'' () is a 1989 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy dance film written and directed by Gangai Amaran. The film stars Ramarajan and debutant Kanaka, while Santhana Bharathi, Chandrasekhar, Goundamani, Senthil, Shanmugasund ...

'' directed by

Gangai Amaran Gangai Amaran is an Indian music composer, singer, lyricist, writer, film director and actor in Tamil films. Personal life Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as the youngest son of Daniel R ...

, won him critical acclaim and prompted several film makers to offer him roles as a village chieftain and the scene where he pleads innocence to his sister (Gandhimathi) made him popular among mimicry artists. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he moved on to feature in television serials, and collaborated with

Raadhika Raadhika Sarathkumar is an Indian actress, entrepreneur, producer and politician who works predominantly in Tamil cinema along with Telugu cinema as well as a few Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada films. She is the founder and CP of the Radaan Me ...

in series such as '' Annamalai'', ''Selvi'' and its sequel, ''Arasi''. In the 2010s, he has regularly featured in films directed by Gangai Amaran's son,

Venkat Prabhu Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren (born 7 November 1975), better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu, is an Indian filmmaker, actor and playback singer in Tamil films. After completing his education, he began pursuing an acting career, with his firs ...

Death

Shanmugasundaram died on August 15, 2017, due to age related ailments. on his age at 78.

Filmography

''This is a partial filmography. You can expand it.''

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

As dubbing artist

Television

*'' Annamalai'' *''Selvi'' *''Raja Rajeshwari'' *''Arasi'' *''Sorgam'' *''My dear bootham'' *''Ketti Melam'' *'' Megala'' *''Vasantham'' *''

Vamsam ''Vamsam'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language action film, starring debutante Arulnidhi and Sunaina in lead roles. The film is produced by Arulnidhi's father and M. Karunanidhi's youngest son, M. K. Thamizharasu, and features Jayaprakash, Ganj ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shanmugasundaram 1940s births 2017 deaths Tamil comedians Tamil male actors Male actors in Tamil cinema Indian male film actors Tamil male television actors 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Indian male comedians People from Mayiladuthurai district