Mudigonda Lingamurthy

Mudigonda Lingamurthy was born to a Hindu Shaiva family in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh. He used to play in school dramas in his childhood. He was very fond of arts and was introduced to Sthanam Narasimha Rao, a very famous Telugu theater artist and a Padma Shri awardee which kickstarted his journey. He joined Rama Vilasa Sabha of Tenali where he portrayed different characters in Kanyasulkam, Pratapa Rudreeyam and other dramas. He became popular and earned fame for his portrayal of Ramappa Pantulu character in Kanyasulkam drama.[3]

He moved to filmdom in 1937 and acted in the movie Tukaram along with Chittor V. Nagaiah. He later joined Vijaya Vauhini Studios and was associated with them for about 7 years and acted as Ajamisa in Bhakta Potana, Gangadu in Swarga Seema, Abirama in Yogi Vemana and Ramadas in Peddamanushulu. He was closely associated with Chitoor V. Nagaiah and acted in his films like Tyagayya, Naa Illu and Ramadasu. In total Lingamurthy acted in about 70 films in his illustrious career.

Lingamurthy wrote some playlets including Venkanna Kapuram, Pelli Choopulu, Thyagam. They are played widely across theater screens and have won many prizes. Some of the above have been translated into various languages.

He was founder member of Cine Technicians Association. He also held the post of Secretary and Chairperson of the Association. He retired from the profession after his Sashtiabdhapoorthi celebrations.

After the death of his wife, Durgavardhanamma in 1974, he took Sanyasa as is custom in Indian families. He died in 1980. He was survived by 4 sons, namely, Mudigonda Prabhakar Rao, Mudigonda Chandrasekar, Mudigonda Thyagaraju, Mudigonda Sivashankar and a daughter.

A mini hall named after him still exists today at the place where he lived in Nana Street, T. Nagar, Chennai.

This is partial list of his films. Please help expand the list.

• Mudigonda Lingamurthy at IMDb