Viluppuram Chinnaiahpillai Ganesan Manrayar, commonly known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian stage and film actor active during the latter half of the 20th century. Well known for his versatility and acting skills with numerous roles depicted on screen, he remains one of the most respected stage and film actors in the history of Indian entertainment, with a career spanning close to five decades and nearly 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi to his credit. Arguably the preeminent leading man during the "Golden Age" of Tamil cinema, Ganesan was the first India…