[3] As a character actor he received critical appreciation for his performance in notable works such as Velugu Needalu (1961), Chitti Tammudu (1962), Aaradhana (1962), Aatma Balam (1964), Sumangali (1965), Gudi Gantalu (1965), Nava ratri (1966), Aame Evaru?

A recipient of the Tamil Nadu state's Kalaimamani, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan in 1992 for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

[1] Jaggayya was born on 31 December 1928 to Seetaramaih and Rajya Lakshmamma in Morampudi village near Tenali in Guntur district.

He started acting at the age of 11, with the role of Lava in a Hindi play during his high school days in Duggirala.

He was the narrator, and dubbing artist for internationally recognized works such as Maa Bhoomi, and Richard Attenborough's character of John Hammond in the Telugu-dubbed version of the Hollywood film Jurassic Park.

His last film as an actor was Kunthi Putrudu, which starred Mohan Babu as lead and was directed by Dasari Narayana Rao.

[citation needed] Jaggayya was active in politics right from his student days and was allied with the socialist group within the Congress party.

When the group was disbanded, he joined Jayaprakash Narayan's Praja Socialist Party, but returned to Congress in 1956, heeding the call of Jawaharlal Nehru.

In 1967, he was elected as a member of the fourth Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India from the constituency of Ongole on a Congress Party ticket.

[8][9] He translated Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's Geetanjali and multiple poems into Telugu under the name Ravindra Geetha.