Gemini Ganesan: A teacher, absent father and Tamil superstar with a tumultuous love life

Gemini Ganesan was born as Ramasamy Ganesan

Gemini Ganesan was born to parents Ramasamy Iyer and Gangammal on November 17, 1920, as Ramasamy Ganesan, into an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family of Pudukottai.

Gemini Ganesan was a teacher at Madras Christian College

Gemini Ganesan went on to pursue his graduation from the Madras Christian College. After the demise of his father-in-law, he taught chemistry at his alma mater. After his stint as a professor, he quit his job and began working as a casting director at Gemini Studios, which is where he got his stage name, Gemini Ganesan.

His dream of becoming a doctor was left unfulfilled

Gemini Ganesan wanted to be a doctor. He married T.R. Alamelu in exchange for a medical seat from his father-in-law. But Alamelu died just a month after their wedding, and Gemini Ganesan had forgone his dreams of becoming a doctor, and pick up other jobs instead.

A career spanning over 5 decades and 200 films

Gemini Ganesan began his acting career with a minor role in the 1947 film Miss Malini. He got his big breakthrough with the 1953 film Thai Ullam, in which he featured as the main antagonist. The actor went on to star in more than 200 films across various languages in a span of five decades. He was a part of many hit Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films.

He was called ‘Sambar’ by people in the film industry

The legend was nicknamed Sambar by his contemporaries in the industry. Because of his forte in romantic films, such as Kalayana Parisu (1959), Kalathur Kannama (1960) and Then Nilavu (1961), he earned him the name Kaadhal Mannan (King of Romance).

Gemini Ganesan had a tumultuous love life

Gemini Ganesan married Alamelu when he was 19 and had four daughters — Revathi, Kamala, Jayalakshami and Narayani. He later lived with actor Pushpavalli and had two daughters with her — Radha and Bhanurekha, whom we know today as Rekha. He also lived with actor Savitri, with whom he had a daughter, Vijaya Chamundeshwari, and a son, Satheesh Kumar. The actor tied the knot with Juliana Andrew at the age of 78, when she was 36. This sparked controversy at the time.

He received several awards in his lifetime

In 2005, the actor breathed his last due to a multiple organ failure. In his lifetime, the actor received several awards, such as the Kalaimamani Award, the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor for Kaaviya Thalaivi, the Padma Shri, a Filmfare Best Actor Award for Naan Avanillai (1974) and Filmfare and Screen Lifetime Achievement Awards.