A gold medallist from Mysore University, he retired as Canara Bank AGM

Bengaluru: Film and theatre actor H.G. Somashekar Rao passed away at a hospital here yesterday following a heart attack. He was 86.

Son of freedom fighter Harihar Gundu Rao, he hailed from Chitradurga and was the elder brother of veteran actor H.G. Dattatreya (well-known as Dattanna). Somashekar leaves behind his wife, two sons and a host of relatives and friends.

A gold medallist in Sociology from University of Mysore (UoM), Rao had a long career with Canara Bank and played a key role in building the Bank’s Staff Training College. He retired as Assistant General Manager (AGM). While posted in Mysuru, he took to amateur Kannada theatre in the 1960s and 1970s. He later shifted to Bengaluru and worked in various troupes for over four decades.

His acting in plays like Ashadhabooti, Jokumaraswamy, and Kadadida Neeru are remembered even today. He had acted in over 300 plays and worked as the Principal of Abhinaya Taranga, a city-based theatre training school for nearly a decade.

He debuted in 1975 as a character actor in Geejagana Goodu and went on to work in over 50 films. His role in the 1988 film Mithileya Seeteyaru won him both popularity and critical acclaim and a State award.

In recent years, he had taken to writing and penned two novels and an autobiography among other works.