Every film industry in our country has an iconic actor from its first generation. In Bollywood, there are Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt. In Tamil, there are MG Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan . In Telugu, there are NT Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageshawara . For the Kannada film industry, that iconic actor is Dr. Rajkumar. Today is the birth anniversary of this legendary actor. On this occasion, here is a quick recap into his career.
Rajkumar was born on 24th April 1929 in Gajanur area of the erstwhile Madras presidency. Both his parents were theatre artists. Rajkumar developed an interest in acting from his parents. He made his acting debut as a lead hero with the 1954 Kannada film Bedara Kannappa. He acted in a total of 206 movies, excluding cameos in other films. Rajkumar is best-known for his social and historical films. Apart from being an actor, Rajkumar is also a well-known singer who sang many songs throughout his career. Some of the iconic films of Rajkumar include Bhakta Kanakadasa, Satya Harishchandra, Ranadheera Kanteerava, Mayura, Bhakta Prahlada and Bhakta Kumbara.
Rajkumar's last film was 2005 release Jogi. He died in 2006 due to the cardiac arrest. Rajkumar was 76-years-old at the time of his death. Rajkumar has five children, two daughters and three sons. All his three sons, Shiva Rajkumar, Raghavendra and Puneeth Rajkumar are prominent actors in the Kannada film industry.
Rajkumar got awarded with Padma Bhushan award in 1983. He got the Karnataka Ratna award in 1992. He later got conferred with Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1995.
