The 81st birthday of the late legendary actress Manorama was on the 26th of this month and for our Tuesday trivia it would be a pleasure for us to remember the unparalleled performer. Manorama started her career as a stage artiste and had seen more than 5000 stages in her career. She has also played the lead actress of Chief Ministers C.N Annadurai and Kalaigniar Mu Karunanidhi during her drama days.

Manorama made her debut as heroine in Tamil cinema in 'Konjum Kumari' but it was Kavigniar Kannadasan who saw the comic in her and cast her in such a role in a film he produced 'Maalaiyitta Mangai'. There was no looking back after that as Manorama ruled the female comic space for a record 50 years acting with legends of different generations including Sivaji-MGR, Rajini-Kamal, Vijay-Ajith and Simbu-Dhanush among others. Her last film was the Suriya starrer 'Singam 3'.

Manorama was also an accomplished singer who has rendered her voice for many songs including "Vaa Vaathiyare vootanda", "Dillikku Rajanaalum" and others. Among the modern greats she has sung for A.R, Rahman in 'May Madham'.

Manorama remains an inspiration to great actors like Kamal Haasan and as far as the female comic space in Tamil cinema her mantle still remains unoccupied and one can only say she is a once in a lifetime actress.