CHENNAI: Veteran actor M N Nambiar, who was ailing for over a year now, passed away at 1.25 pm on Wednesday.
The 89-year-old actor, who carved a niche for himself as the despicable villain in movies from the MGR era, was admitted to a private hospital but later died at his home in Gopalapuram.
Nambiar has acted with over three generations of actors, from MGR-Sivaji, to Vijay and Ajith.
Towards the end, the actor rarely made a public appearance.
On the whole he has done over 1,000 films, which also include a few in Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and even English. In The Jungle, with Rod Cameron in the lead, he appeared in a few scenes.
But Kollywood has been his home.
He is survived by two sons, one of whom is a senior BJP leader Sudhakar Nambiar, and a daughter.
His body will be cremated on Thursday morning.
Former union minister Dayanidhi Maran along with his family, AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa and actor Rajinikanth paid tributes to the veteran actor.
Jaya condoles Nambiar's death:
AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa condoled the death of M N Nambiar. She visited Nambiar’s house at Gopalapuram and paid homage to the actor.
She said his death is a huge loss to film fraternity and spiritual circles. Jayalalithaa had earlier visited the veteran and sought his blessings on her 60th birthday.