Goundamani

Subramaniyan Karuppaiya (born 25 May 1939), known by his stage name Goundamani, is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Tamil cinema. He is known for his comic duo partnership in Tamil films with fellow actor Senthil. The pair dominated the Tamil industry as comedians in the 1980s and 90s. He was called Goundamani after acting as a Gounder in one of his early day dramas and the pseudonym stuck with him forever. He has the ability to give counter dialogues on the spot and off the script on stage and during shooting but it has nothing to do with his screen name, contrary to popular belief (as counter is a term that was popular only from the late 2000s). He was at his peak of his career as a comedian in Tamil cinema for nearly 40 years. Despite his popularity, Goundamani is known for being a social recluse. Goundamani is also popularly known as the king of comedy in Tamil cinema. Early life Goundamani was born as Subramaniyan on 25 May 1939 in Vallakundapuram, a village near Udumalaipettai in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. His father is Karuppaiya and his mother is Annammal. He married Shanthi in 1963 and has 2 daughters. Career On having interest in acting, he went to Chennai and initially started acting in theatre dramas and then entered into the Tamil film industry (Kollywood) due to his strong theatrical background.