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Veteran Tamil film villain and stage artist M N Nambiar passed away in Chennai today after a brief illness. He was 92.
Nambiar was suffering from age-related ailments for the past four months and breathed his last at his residence, family sources said. He is survived by his wife, son and senior BJP leader Sukumaran Nambiar, and a daughter.
Born on March 7, 1919, in Kannur, Kerala, Nambiar was one of the most sucessful stars of Tamil cinema and perhaps the only actor, who remained active for six decades. He also acted in Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi cinema, besides Willam Burke's English film Jungle (1952) with Rod Cameron.
Nambiar had acted with almost all top stars of Tamil cinema like M G Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan. His famous films include Aayirathil Oruvan, Ambikapathi, Missiyamma, Nenjam Marappathillai, Thooral Ninu Pochu , Thigambara Samiyar, Sarvadhikari, Manthrikumari, Enga Veetu Pillai and Arasilankumari. He acted in more than 1,000 films.Nambiar had also acted in Velaikari, written by the reformist writer and DMK founder C N Annadurai and directed by A S A Sami.
After becoming popular in Tamil films, he started his own drama troupe Nambiar Nataka Mandram, which staged many plays.
A deeply religious person, Nambiar was an ardent devotee of Lord Ayyappa of the famous Sabarimala shrine and visited it for more than 65 years, which earned him the title Maha Gurusamy.
Recently, AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa had visited the veteran and sought his blessings on the occasion of her 60th birthday.