[5] Gemini Ganesan made his debut with Miss Malini in 1947 but was noticed only after playing the villain in Thai Ullam in 1952.

[4] Despite his celebrated film career, Ganesan's personal life, particularly his marriages to multiple women over the years, including famous Indian actress Savitri, has often been a subject of criticism.

[10] Later in life, after losing his first wife, Narayanaswami lived with a Devadasi girl Chandramma who served as musician and dancer in a Temple.

After the death of his father, Ganesan, along with his mother Bhagirathi, moved to his aunt Muthulakshmi's home in Madras (now known as Chennai).

Muthulakshmi provided shelter to her mother Chandramma and also to Bhagirathi and Ganesan, but she was very dismissive and insulting towards her destitute relatives, and she felt ashamed of them because of their background as nautch girls.

[citation needed] She heaped many insults on the two widowed women and ensured that they did not show their faces to any guests who visited the house.

[4] From the casting department, Ganesan made his film debut in 1947 with the satire Miss Malini, in a minor role.

The film, which was based on a story by R. K. Narayan,[12] and cast him alongside his future Mistress Pushpavalli, was a box office failure as it was considered "ahead of its time", but was well received by intellectuals.

Ganesan also starred in Kalathur Kannamma (1959), which was also the debut for Kamal Haasan, who later became one of the leading actors in Tamil cinema.

[16] It was also nominated for the National Film Award in 1960, along with Gemini Ganesan's Kalyana Parisu, but both lost to Bhaaga Pirivinai.

[20] One of the first screen adaptations of Kalki Krishnamurthy's Ponniyin Selvan, the film had a huge ensemble cast consisting of Vyjayanthimala, Savitri, Padmini, Saroja Devi, M. N. Rajam and Nagesh.

[14] His other known works include Missiamma, School Master, Kanavane Kankanda Deivam, Meenda Sorgam, Shanti Nilayam, Vaazhkai Padagu, Karpagam, Ramu, Thamarai Nenjam and Punnagai.

He played the lead role in Devta, the Hindi version of his own Tamil film Kanavaney Kankanda Deivam.

[30] Later in his career, Ganesan switched to character roles, most notably the Telugu film Rudraveena (1988), its Tamil remake Unnal Mudiyum Thambi (1988), and Avvai Shanmughi (1996), in which he played the role of an old man longing for the titular main character unaware of her actual gender.

Ganesan abstained from politics to the point of refusing a Rajya Sabha MP offer by Rajiv Gandhi.

[37] In February 2006, Dayanidhi Maran had released a commemorative postage stamp of the actor, whom he described as a "multi-dimensional personality, who evinced keen interest in Carnatic music, reading, yoga and poetry.

"[38] He is also credited for having introduced leading Tamil actor Kamal Haasan to Kalathur Kannamma, where the latter was a child artist.

According to politician M. Karunanidhi, the actor had developed a "reformer's mind" because he was raised by his aunt Muthulakshmi Reddy, who fought for the abolition of the devadasi system.

Alamelu and Ganesan have four daughters; three of them – Revathi, Kamala and Jayalakshmi – are medical doctors, the fourth – Narayani – is a journalist with The Times of India.

[citation needed] Chamundeswari has a son Abhinay Vaddi, who acted in Ramanujan (2014), and is therefore Ganesan's grandson.

[46][47] A documentary film on the legend in the name of Kadhal Mannan was produced by Dr. Kamala Selvaraj and directed by Ashok Kumar, DFT (Programme Head-Vendhar TV) in 2011.

It was screened by many film stalwarts and fans of the legend and received rave reviews from critics for bringing out a candid representation of the actor's life in detail.

Odam Ilavarasu's romantic comedy Gemini Ganeshanum Suruli Raajanum (2017) began in 2015 and featured the lead character as someone who falls in love with several women at the same time.

Prominent personalities including Tamil Nadu's chief ministers M. Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha paid their last respects to the veteran actor.

[50] Ganesan's funeral was not attended by his estranged daughter Rekha, who was then in Himachal Pradesh shooting a film.