Veteran Tamil actress Manorama dead

Chennai: Well-known Tamil comedian and actress Manorama died here on Saturday. She was 78 and is survived by her son and singer-actor Boopathy.

After succumbing to a cardiac arrest at her residence, she was rushed to Apollo hospital here, where she breathed her last.

"After dinner last night (Saturday), she complained of some pain in her chest and struggled to breathe. We rushed her to Apollo hospital where she failed to respond to the treatment and passed away late night," a family source told IANS.

Over the last few months, she was receiving treatment due to multiple organ failures.

Popularly known as 'Aachi' by her fans, Manorama has starred in over 1,000 films across five languages and sung over 100 songs.

She was born as Gopishanta in Manargudi in 1937 and began her career as a stage artiste at a time when women rarely acted in plays.

As a stage artiste, she chose to change her name to Manorama.

In 1958, she made her acting debut in Tamil film "Malayitta Mangai", and since then went on to star predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films.

Known as one of the finest female comedians, Manorama proved her versatility with impeccable body language and dialogue delivery. She could render dialogues with ease in any dialect of Tamil.

Some of her best Tamil films include "Anbe Vaa", "Ethir Neechal", "Galatta Kalyanam", "Chittukuruvi", "Durga Devi", "Annalakshmi" and "Imayam".

In Telugu, she starred in films such as "Rikshavodu", "Krishnarjuna" and "Subhodayam".

In 1974, she shared the screen space with legendary comedian Mehmood in Hindi film "Kunwara Baap".

A recipient of the Kalaimamani award, she was bestowed with the Padma Shri in 2002.

She holds the record of starring opposite a host of Tamil superstars, from M.G.Ramachandran to Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.