Villupuram Chinnaiah Ganesan better known as Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian stage, and film actor who was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. He was well known for his versatility and variety of roles depicted on screen, which gave him also the Tamil honorific name Nadigar Thilagam (lit. the pride of actors) In a career that spanned close to five decades, he had acted in 283 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. His eidetic memory helped him remember his scripts at a glance. Many leading South Indian film actors have stated that their acting was influenced by Ganesan. He was also the first Indian actor to be made a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Ganesan is remembered as an iconic figure of Tamil cinema. He has been described by the Los Angeles Times as "The Marlon Brando of Indian Cinema". In spite of his celebrated film career, his short stint in politics became a futile attempt.