M. G Ramachandran எம்.ஜி.ஆர்
Born	Maruthur Gopal Menon Ramachandran 17 January 1917 Nawalapitiya, British Ceylon
Died	24 December 1987 (aged 70) Chennai, India
Other names	M. G. R., Puratchi Thalaivar
Occupation	Actor, Politician, Producer
Years active	1936-1978 (Actor) 1953-1987 (Politician)
Religion	Hindu
Spouse	Thangamani (deceased) Sathanandavathi (deceased) V. N. Janaki (died in 1996)
Awards	Bharat Ratna 1988

Early life and background

MGR was born in Nawalapitiya near Kandy, British Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka),to immigrant Malayali parents — Melakkath Gopala Menon and Maruthur Satyabhama. His family was originally from Vadavannur, Palakkad, Kerala, but his father had migrated with his family to Ceylon. Melakkath Gopala Menon had been excommunicated (bhrasht) during a Smarthavicharam in 1903, regarding an allegation that dealt with an illicit relationship with a widowed Brahmin woman; and hence he left his family, and married Maruthur Satyabhama.

MGR was a Hindu and a devotee of Murugan, as is the common practice for Hindus in Sri Lanka. This was during his early days. Later, when he joined the DMK,a pro-rationalist party,he followed the rationalist ideology, though not appearing very aggressively atheistic.However,in later days after he founded his own party following his expulsion from the DMK, he seems to have shown some leaning towards religious faith. He had asked his followers to pray for the success of his AIADMK party.

His followers even prayed for him when it was determined that he had a kidney illness. After his demise, his wife opened up a temple in his name.

After his father's death, he joined a drama troupe called Original Boys. Later, he entered the world of cinema, becoming an actor, and later a director, producer, and editor. MGR married Bargavi also known as Thangamani who died early due to illness. He later married Sathanandavathi who also died soon due to Tuberculosis. M. G. R. married V. N. Janaki a former Tamil film actress as his third wife after the death of his second wife. Janaki divorced her husband Ganapati Bhat, to marry MGR.