CHENNAI: Sedapatti Suriyanarayana Thevar Rajendran, popularly known as SS Rajendran (86), the first actor turned legislator of Indian politics died here at a private hospital in Mylapore on Friday. He was suffering from severe lung infection. Rajendran is one among the theatre personalities who had made great strides in Tamil film industry.
Born in January, 1928, SSR started acting in the plays of Boys Drama Company and T. K. Shanmugam Brothers Drama Company. Though he had acted in a minor role in the film Paithiyakaran in 1947, his first popular movie was blockbuster of 1952 *Parasakthi*. In that film, he had acted as a brother of Sivaji Ganesan, Mudhalali was the first film in which SSR had acted as hero.
Rajendran, a follower of Periyar EV Ramasamy, is fondly called as ‘Latchiya Nadigar’ as he has never acted in any mythological characters. He joined the DMK and was elected from Theni Assembly constituency in 1962 and subsequently as Rajya Sabha MP. Later, he joined the AIADMK and was elected from Andipatti constituency.