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Villupuram Chiniahpillai Ganesan was born on October 1, 1927, to humble parents. His father Chiniah Pillai worked in the railways, but spent a good bit of his time going in and out of jail, thanks to his active participation in the freedom movement.
Ganesan thus grew up under the care of his mother Rajamani Ammal. Though his mother was keen to see her son do well academically, the boy was more interested in acting. Thus, he dropped out of school and ran away to join a theatrical company.
His first stage appearance was as Sita in the play Ramayan -- an ironic edge to that debut, given that Ganesan was to grow into the sobriquet Simhakuralon, which translates literally as 'lion-voiced'.
It was his outstanding portrayal of the role of Chhatrapati Sivaji in the stage play Sivaji Kanda Hindu Samrajyam that earned him the title that became a part of his name. 'Sivaji' was in fact tagged on to Ganesan's name by none other than 'Periyar' E V Ramaswamy Naicker, founder of the Dravidian movement.
In 1952, Sivaji at age 25 got the lead role in National Pictures' production Parasakthi, which went on to become one of the greatest box office hits of the time.
Already hailed for his dramatic abilities, Sivaji went on to act in more than 300 movies in the course of a film career lasting 42 years. These included not only Tamil films but also Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
Sivaji's roles in patriotic films of the order of Veerapandia Kattabomman, Kappalotia Tamizhan, Raktha Thilagam, Bharatha Vilas and such were used as vehicles to inspire patriotism among the youth of the time. Veerapandia Kattabomman in fact earned him a Best Actor Award at the Afro-Asian Film Festival in Cairo in the year 1960.
Further, when Madras was ravaged by floods in 1962, Sivaji on his own initiative organised a drama troupe and enacted the stage version of Veerapandia Kattabomman at various centres in Bangalore, Thanjavur, Bodinayakanur, Salem and Madras. A sum of Rs 32 lakh, phenomenal by the standards of the time, was collected towards flood relief.
Similarly, for 10 years beginning 1962, Sivaji Ganesan led the cast in dramatic performances in Bombay in aid of the Bharathi Kala Mandram building and library at Sion. The shows were presided over by the likes of Sriprakasha, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Yeshwant Chavan and other luminaries.
Again, during the 1971 war with Pakistan, Sivaji led a 70-strong group to the frontlines to entertain the troops.
Sivaji Ganesan was the first artiste from India to visit the United States of America as part of the cultural exchange programme of the US government in 1962. At the time, he was given the honorary title of India's cultural ambassador. During that visit, he was also named honorary mayor of Niagara City for a day and presented with a key to the city -- the only Indian besides Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to receive the honour.
In 1976, Sivaji Ganesan was honoured with the Padma Shri and, on March 10, 1983, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Sivaji Ganesan remained a Member of Parliament till April 2, 1986.
In 1984, Sivaji Ganesan was conferred the Padma Bhushan in recognition of his many contributions to cinema and philanthropy.
On April 24, 1993, he was awarded the Dinanath Mangeshkar Award for his outstanding contribution towards the arts and cultural traditions of India.
On April 22, 1995, France's Ambassador to India Philip Petit presented him with the title of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Literature on behalf of the Government of France, at a ceremony held at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Madras.
During a visit to the US in June 1995, Sivaji Ganesan found himself in Columbus, Ohio. Mayor Greg Lashutka named him honorary citizen of Columbus at a special dinner.
Eighteen of his films have been named Best Film at the national level. On three occasions, he was named Filmfare Best Actor. Yet he never won a national award for acting. The closest he got to that elusive honour was in 1992, when he was given the Special Jury Award for his performance in Thevar Magan, co-starring Kamal Hassan. That was his 280th movie.
ALSO SEE: Sivaji Ganesan is dead Actor who revolutionised Tamil cinema
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