Hyderabad, Jan 27: Chief Minister K Rosaiah expressed heart-felt condolences with family members on the death of veteran actor Gummadi Venkateswara Rao at CARE Hospital here Late on Tuesday night.He was suffering from some heart ailment for some time and had slipped into a coma on Monday while undergoing treatment at the hospital. He was admitted to the hospital on Sunday.
The end came at 11.30 p.m. on Tuesday. He was 83.Born on July 9, 1927 at Ravikampadu in Vemuru mandal in Guntur district, Gummadi had acted in over 500 films over a period of six decades. Gummadi is survived by seven children—two sons and five daughters-- and all of them are residing abroad. All of them are expected to reach Hyderabad by Thursday.Bharatiya Janata Party leader Venkaiah Naidu expressed his grief over Gummadi’s demise and said his death is an irreparable loss not only for the film world, but for the State as a whole.
Prominent actors Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Yamuna, K Satyanarayana, Giribabu and Parachuri brothers were among those who paid floral tributes at his body before its last rites were performed.Nageswara Rao said Gummadi’s death caused a great loss to the filmdom in general and a personal loss for him in particular as he lost a dear friend. He also appealed to all members of the film fraternity to attend the last rites of the actor, which would be performed at ESI crematorium in Erragadda on Thursday.