Doddanna Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Full Name	Sugurappa Doddanna
Other Name	S. Doddanna
Profession(s)	• Actor • Politician
Known for	Portraying comedy roles in Kannada film industry
Physical Stats
Eye Colour	Light Brown
Hair Colour	Gray
Career
Debut	Film: • Kannada: Koo di Balidare Swarga Sukha (1981) • Tamil: Ajeya (1985) • Telugu: Aatagadharaa Siva (2018) Playback Singer: Hello Yama (1998) TV: Weekend with Ramesh (2016); guest appearance
Award	Karnataka State Film Award (1999) in the category Best Supporting Actor (1998-99) for the film Tuvvi Tuvvi Tuvvi (1999)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	11 November 1949 (Friday)
Age (as of 2025)	76 Years
Birthplace	Arsikere, District Hassan, Karnataka, India
Zodiac sign	Scorpio
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Mysuru, Karnatka
Religion	Hinduism
Community	Lingayat
Social Media	• Instagram • Facebook
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Date	Year., 1975
Family
Wife/Spouse	Shantha
Children	Note: He has three children
Parents	Father- Nanjamma Mother- Sugurappa
Siblings	Brother(s)- 2 • Basavaraj • Rachanna

Some Lesser Knonw Facts About Doddanna

• Doddanna was born and raised in Arasikere, a small town in the Hassan district of Karnataka.

• He is the youngest son of his family. In an interview, Doddanna mentioned that he was named after his grandfather, Kadle Doddappa.

• Doddanna spent his early years in Santhepete town near Arasikere. He completed his middle school and high school in Arasikere.

• In an interview, Doddanna revealed that while studying at school, he developed a strong interest in theatre and performing arts.

• Doddanna’s professional acting journey started after he played a girl’s role in a stage play called Civil Marriage. His performance helped him in gaining recognition and also sparked his interest in acting.

• He later joined an amateur theatre group called Vighneshwara Kala Sangha in Hassan district along with his brothers.

• The group performed plays in different parts of Karnataka, which helped Doddanna improve his acting skills and gave him confidence to become an actor.

• In 1968, to support his family financially, Doddanna joined the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant (VISL), then known as Mysore Iron Works, where he worked as a welder.

• While working at VISL, he did not give up his passion for acting and created his own theatre group called Gandharva Ranga. In an interview, he revealed that he and his theatre group regularly travelled to watch plays directed by famous theatre personalities like B.V. Karanth, Girish Karnad, and Chandrashekhara Kambara.

• In 1981, film director S. Siddalingaish offered him his first role in the film Koodi Balidare Swarga Sukha.

• Even after entering films, Doddanna continued working at VISL and worked there until 1988.

• In the beginning of his film career, he often played negative characters, politicians, policemen and other character archetypes. In an interview, he mentioned that many people did not know that comedy was not his first screen identity.

• In the late 1980s, film directors started Doddanna’s expressions, body language, and dialogue delivery, which slowly moved him toward comedy roles.

• In the 1990s, he became one of the most loved comedy actors in Kannada film industry. However, he continued playing many different characters, including politicians, father and negative roles in the films and became one of the few Kannada actors who could fit into almost every role given to him.
  

  Doddanna’s still from one of his films

• In 2004, Doddanna entered politics by joining the Janata Party before the 2004 General Elections. He contested unsuccessfully for the Lok Sabha election from Shimog.

• Later, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

• In 2012, he became part of the Karnataka Janata Party, a party formed after spitting from BJP. However, he was denied Karnataka Janata Party ticket to contest in the 2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election from Turuvekere constituency.

• In 2016, Doddanna became the president of the 6th Arsikere Taluk Kannada Sahithya Sammelana.

• In 2018, he made his debut in the Telugu film industry with the film Aatagadharaa Siva and received appreciation for his performance outside the Kannada industry. For his work in the film, he was also nomianted for Filmfare South Award.

• During his acting career, Doddanna has appeared in more than 800 films and became one of the most experienced actors in Kannada film industry.

• In June 2026, Doddanna came into news after a fake Facebook post of his death went viral.

• After the post went viral, Doddanna requested people not to believe or forward unverified content on social media. He released a video message in which he said,

Before I even woke up in the morning, some irresponsible people had posted that I had died. It is completely false. I am healthy and doing well.”

• On 15 June 2026, he filed a complaint with the North Division Cyber Crime Police Station. A case was registered by cyber police under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act and initiated an investigation against unidentified individuals believed to be behind the false social media post.