M. P. Shankar was a veteran Kannada film actor. He acted in films like Satya Harishchandra as 'Veera Baahu', Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu, Ratnamanjari etc.Shankar was the third son of Puttalingappa and Gangamma. His father ran a handloom textile industry. Shankar had his primary and secondary education in Dalvoy School and higher secondary education in Banumaiah's High School. His family got into financial crisis due to losses at textile industry. He could not even appear for SSLC exams because of financial problems. He worked as a daily wager in the then Mysore Electricity BoardShankar started his career as a Foundry man in the Railway workshop at Mysore in 1955 on a monthly wage of Rs. 80. This iron grinding work affected his body. Shankar, who practised wrestling, participated in the Dasara wrestling competition in 1956 and received title from the then Chief Minister B. D. Jatti. He dreamt of winning the “Sri Mysore” wrestling title. But the wrestling competition was suspended for three years from 1957, following the violence which broke out during the competition that year, and as such his dream of winning the “Sri Mysore” title remained unfulfilled.