Veteran film actress S N Lakshmi passed away here after a sudden illness late last night, film industry sources said on Monday. She was 85–years old.

Lakshmi, who had been acting even until few weeks ago, which of late, included television serials as well, had complained of breathlessness late on Sunday night. She was taken to a nearby hospital, but efforts to save her were of no avail, the sources said. Her body was kept for public homage at her residence in the city where hundreds of artistes paid their last respects.  

A native of Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district, Lakshmi, known for her character roles in Tamil, Telugu and other regional language films, had entered the celluloid world at the tender age of 13 and had acted in nearly 1500 films and donned the theatre in over 6000 plays.

Lakshmi, a spinster, was particularly known for portraying the strong and affectionate Mother’s role in scores of films featuring the late legendary stars M G Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, and Sivaji Ganesan.

Lakshmi, who was deeply religious person in real life, has also acted in several films with the present Chief Minister and star of yesteryear J Jayalalitha, besides with other popular actors in the silver screen including Kamal Hassan.

“Lakshmi’s death is a huge loss to the film world and to the fraternity of actors; her contributions as an actor to both Theatre and Cinema have been immense,” Jayalalitha said in a condolence message here on Monday, expressing deep pain and grief to the bereaved members of her family.