Udaykumar

Udaykumar Biography

Udaykumar often referred as Uday Kumar and Udaya Kumar was a Kannada film actor and producer. He is known for good quality films and he is known by the titles - Pavanasutha, Kala Kesari, Kalabheeshma, Gandugali and Nata Samrat. He along with Rajkumar and Kalyan Kumar form the magic trio of Kannada movies during this period and known by the name “Kumara Thrayaru” of the Kannada cinema. They together have acted in the movie, Bhoodaana, directed by G. V. Iyer. The movie was released in 1962 which was a box office hit. He acted in 36 films with Rajkumar. He started a production company called Udaya Productions. His son Vikram Udaykumar is also an Actor. Udaykumar was also a Freedom Fighter and has authored a few books as well.

He was born on 5 March 1933 at Palkad, Salem, Tamil Nadu. He debuted as an actor in the 1956 film Bhagyodaya and very soon became a prominent figure of Kannada film industry in the 1960’s. He, along with Rajkumar and Kalyan Kumar ruled the golden era of Kannada cinema, delivering numerous hits and memorable movies. Instead of typecasting on hero oriented movies only, he experimented with assorted roles and also negative roles to give his best. He remained active in the industry till early 1980’s. He died on 26 December 1985, aged only 53.

He has acted in about 153 Kannada, 15 Telugu, 6 Tamil and 1 Hindi Film. 1958 movie School Master directed by B. R. Panthulu was the first Kannada Film to celebrate Silver Jubilee. Mahishasura Mardini, released in 1959 marked the successful association of Udaykumar with Rajkumar. He has won several state awards for his acting performance.

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Updated: February 19, 2014