Bengaluru, 30 Nov

Veteran Kannada actor 'Mysore' Srikantayya Umesh died on Sunday after a prolonged illness, family sources said.

He was 80.

The actor has been suffering from cancer for quite some time and was recently admitted to a hospital, where he breathed his last.

His career in the film industry spanned over five decades, where he acted in over 350 films.

Born on 24 April, 1945 in Mysuru, Umesh started his career at the age of four when he played a role in the 'Lanchavatara' fame Master K Hirannaiah's theatre group.

Later, he joined Gubbi Veeranna's theatre troupe.

Umesh got a major break in the film industry in 1960 when he played the lead role in the movie 'Makkala Rajya'.

After the debut, there was a lull in his film career, which was marked by struggle. He was forced to return to theatres.

The actor got his next break in the film industry through 'Katha Sangama' in 1977. Since then, there has been no looking back for Umesh.

He acted in movies like 'Nagara Hole' (1978), 'Guru Shishyaru' (1981), 'Anupama' (1981), 'Kaamana Billu' (1983) and 'Venkata in Sankata' (2007).

The actor worked with all the leading Kannada actors of his time, right from Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar, Vishnu Vardhan, Ambareesh, Srinath, Shankar Nag, Ananth Nag, Arvind Ramesh, B Saroja Devi and Bharathi. He also acted with Tamil actors Sivaji Ganesan and Rajinikanth.

Umesh was a versatile actor. He got the Karnataka State Film Award in 1975 for best supporting actor in 'Katha Sangama' and the Karnataka Nataka Akademy Award in 2013 for his contribution to theatres.

Condoling his demise, JD(S) leader and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy said he was deeply saddened to hear the news.

"Umesh would make audiences float in a sea of laughter through his fresh humour," he said.

"Having delivered captivating performances in numerous films, including 'Guru Shishyaru', 'Haalu Jenu', 'Apurva Sangama', his departure is a huge loss to the Kannada art world," Kumaraswamy said in a post on 'X'.