Gummadi Venkateswara Rao

Gummadi was a renowned actor and producer of South India. He was born as Gummadi Venkateswara Rao in Ravikampadu, Guntur district, on 9 July 1927. He studied in ZP High School, Kollur and Hindu College, Guntur. He started his acting career in 1942, playing the role of an old man on the stage. He made his film debut in 1950 with Adrushtadeepudu and went on to act in around 500 films in his career, which spanned over six decades. He worked with three generations of people in the film industry and played various roles, such as the hero, the villain, the character artiste, and the comedian. He was known as one of the finest supporting character actors in Telugu cinema and received critical recognition for his work in films such as Thodu Dongalu (1954) and Mahamantri Timmarusu (1962), for which he received the Rashtrapati Award. He also acted in many mythological and sociopolitical films, portraying characters such as Balarama, Bhishma, Maharishi Bhrigu, Dasharatha, Durvasa, Jamadagni, Kabir, Karna, Kasinayana, Nanda, Parashurama, Pothana, Timmarusu, Vishwamitra, and Yudhishthira. He was also an official member of the Indian delegation from South India to the Tashkent Film Festival in 1978 and 1982. He served as a jury member thrice for the National Film Awards and twice for the state Nandi Awards. In 1977, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honor, for his contribution to Indian cinema. He was also a producer and produced films such as Bandhavyalu (1968), Bangaru Panjaram (1969), and President Peramma (1982). His last film was Jagadguru Sree Kasinayana Charitra (2008). Gummadi was married and had five daughters and two sons. He died of multiple organ failure at Care hospital, Hyderabad on 26 January 2010, at the age of 82. He was cremated with full state honors. He is remembered as one of the legends of Telugu cinema and a versatile actor.