Leelavathi (born Leela Kiran) is an Indian actress who worked in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

films. She has acted in more than 600 films (more than 400 in Kannada alone) throughout her career for more than 50 years. She is known for her memorable performances in '' Bhakta Kumbara'' , ''

Mana Mecchida Madadi ''Mana Mecchida Madadi'' is a 1963 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by K. R. Seetharama Sastry and produced by N. B. Vathsalan and N. Ramachandra. The film stars Rajkumar, Udaykumar, K. S. Ashwath and Balakrishna. The film has musical sc ...

'' and ''

Santha Thukaram ''Santha Thukaram'' is a 1963 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni and produced by B. Radhakrishna. The film stars Rajkumar, Udaykumar, K. S. Ashwath and T. N. Balakrishna. The film has musical score by Vijaya Bhaskar. ...

''. She has been the recipient of the ''

Dr. Rajkumar Award This is a list of winners of the Karnataka State's Dr. Rajkumar Award. Rajkumar was one of Kannada cinema Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictu ...

'' in 1999 and

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

Early life

She was born in 1937 at Beltangadi,

Dakshina Kannada Dakshina Kannada district is a district of Karnataka state in India, with its headquarters in the coastal city of Mangalore. It is part of the larger Tulu Nadu region. The district covers an area nestled in between the Western Ghats to its east ...

district. She lost her parents at the age of 6.

Film career

She got a small role in ''Chanchala Kumari'' and then in Shanker Singh's film ''Naga Kannika''. She later joined the troupe of Mahalinga Bhagavathar's ''Sri Sahitya Samrajya Drama Company''. She got a chance to act in Subbainaidu's 1958 movie ''Bhakta Prahlada'' and in movies like ''Mangalya Yoga'', ''Dharma Vijaya'' and '' Ranadheera Kanteerava''. It was from ''

Rani Honnamma ''Rani Honnamma'' is a 1960 Indian historical drama film in Kannada language, directed and written by K. R. Seetharama Sastry and produced by Karibasaiah. The film stars Rajkumar and Leelavathi. Cast * Rajkumar * Leelavathi as Honnamma * ...

'' that Leelavathi became a full-fledged heroine. In ''

'', '' Kantheredu Nodu'', ''Kaivara Mahatme'', '' Gaali Gopura'', '' Kanyarathna'', ''

Kulavadhu ''Kulavadhu'' is a 1963 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by T. V. Singh Takur and produced by A. C. Narasimha Murthy & Friends. The film stars Rajkumar, Leelavathi, Balakrishna, Narasimharaju and K. S. Ashwath. The film has musical sco ...

'', ''

Veera Kesari ''Veera Kesari'' is a 1963 Indian Kannada-language swashbuckler film directed by B. Vittalacharya and produced by Sundarlal Nahatha and Doondi. The film stars Rajkumar, T. N. Balakrishna, Udaykumar and R. Nagendra Rao. The film has musical sco ...

'' and ''

'' , she was the leading lady. She has starred in supporting roles in ''

Gejje Pooje Gejje Pooje is a 1969 Indian Kannada language film directed by Puttanna Kanagal and produced by Rashi Brothers. The film stars Kalpana, Gangadhar and Leelavathi in the lead roles. ''Gejje'' means anklet and ''pooje'' means worship, but in the ...

'' and '' Doctor Krishna'' for which she received the Karnataka State Award. She has the rare distinction of having worked with Rajkumar in various films as heroine as well as his daughter (in ''

Bhoodana ''Bhoodana'' is a 1962 Indian Kannada-language film jointly directed and produced by G. V. Iyer and P.S. Gopalkrishna. The film stars Dr. Rajkumar, Rajkumar, Kalyan Kumar, Udaykumar and K. S. Ashwath. The film has musical score by G. K. Venkate ...

''), sister (in ''

Vathsalya ''Vathsalya'' is a 1965 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by Y. R. Swamy. The film stars Rajkumar, Udaykumar, Narasimharaju and Shivaraj. The film has musical score by Vijaya Krishnamurthy. The film was a remake of the Tamil film '' Pas ...

''), sister in law - elder brother's wife in ''

Premamayi ''Premamayi'' is a 1966 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by M. R. Vittal and produced by Srikanth Nahatha and Srikanth Patel. The film stars Rajkumar, K. S. Ashwath, Leelavathi and Jayanthi. The film has musical score by R. Sudarshanam ...

'' and younger brother's wife in '' Kalitharu Henne'', paternal aunt (in ''

Shravana Banthu ''Shravana Banthu'' is a 1984 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film, written and directed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao. The film stars Rajkumar, Urvashi and Srinath. The film, produced by P. A. Kameshwara Rao, deals with reincarnation as t ...

'') and mother in law (in '' Vasantha Geetha'', ''

Naa Ninna Mareyalare ''Naa Ninna Mareyalare'' () is a 1976 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Vijay and produced by N. Veeraswamy. The film is based on the story ''Naanu Neenu Jodi'' by A. R. Anand. The film stars Rajkumar and Lakshmi. The Rajan–Nagendr ...

'' and ''

Jwaalamukhi Jwaalamukhi () is a 1985 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao. The film featured Rajkumar, Gayathri, Thoogudeepa Srinivas, K. S. Ashwath and Mukhyamantri Chandru. The movie is based on a novel of same name by Vijay ...

'').

Awards and recognitions

* Dr. Rajkumar Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 from

Karnataka Government The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

. * Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Kannada for ''Kannadada Kanda'' in 2006 *Leelavathi was conferred with the honorary doctorate from the

Tumkur University Tumkur University was established in 2004 in Tumkuru, Karnataka, India. It was carved out of Bangalore University to accommodate the needs of the students from Tumkuru district. Established under the Karnataka State Universities Act, 2000, as ...

in the year 2008 for her contribution to the southern cinema.

Partial filmography

As actress

:First Film in Kannada: Mangalya Yoga :First Film in Tamil: Pattinathaar :First Film in Telugu: Marmayogi :First Film in Malayalam: Pamasiraja :First Film in Tulu: Saviradoorthi Savitri

As producer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leelavathi Actresses in Kannada cinema Kannada actresses 1937 births Living people Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Filmfare Awards South winners Indian film actresses 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses from Mangalore Kannada film producers Indian women film producers Film producers from Karnataka Businesspeople from Mangalore 21st-century Indian businesswomen Businesswomen from Karnataka