Prolific Tamil actress Manorama passed away having been unwell for some time recently. She passed away on 11 October, 2015 due to multiple organ failure in Chennai at the age of 78. She holds the record for being the most prolific actress and also playing the most leading roles. She acted in her 1000th film by 1985 and has done about 1200 films by 2003. An item in the “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” newspaper feature has her picture and the accompanying statement: “‘Aachi’ Manorama, a veteran of India’s Tamil film industry, has appeared in more than 1,500 movies and 1,000 stage performances!”

She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2002. She won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the movie Pudhiya Pathai in 1989. She was the recipient of the Kalaimamani award by the government of Tamil Nadu. She fell in love with her manager in the drama troop S.M. Ramanathan and got married in 1964. The couple begotten a son named Bhoopathy. She got divorced from S.M. Ramanathan in late 1966 and then resided in a separate house in Chennai.