[3][4] Manorama was born to Kasiyappan Kilakudaiyar and Ramamirtham in Mannargudi Thirukannamangai, a town in the erstwhile Thiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu in a Kallar family.

She was selected for a role in his ManiMagudam drama written by Kalaignar M Karunanidhi.She continued to act in plays and performed as a playback singer as well.

Manorama fell in love with her manager in the drama troupe; S. M. Ramanathan and married him in 1954; the couple have a son named Bhoopathy born in 1955.

Nataka Mandram company and played in hundreds of stage productions all over the district: The dramas included Manimagudam, Thenpandiveeran and Pudhuvellam.

I was very doubtful about it, but he told me, "If you are going to act in films only as a heroine, people here will throw you out of the industry after three or four years, but doing such roles will take you places.

"[8] The first time Manorama stood before the camera was for a Sinhalese film Sukumali in 1957, in which she played the heroine's friend.

Her on-screen pair with Nagesh was very popular in 1960–69 and then with Cho in the 1970s and 80s and later with Thengai Srinivasan, Vennira Aadai Moorthy, and Surali Rajan in the 70s and 80s.

Her career's biggest hit song sung by herself was Vaa Vaathiyaare Uttaande composed by music director V. Kumar for the film ''Bommalattam", which was picturised on her and Cho.

Some of her best Tamil films include Anbe Vaa, Thenmazhi, Ethir Neechal, Galatta Kalyanam, Chittukuruvi, Durga Devi, Annalakshmi and Imayam.

Other directors cast the Nagesh-Manorama pair in films like Anubhavi Raja Anubhavi, Kungumam, Saraswathi Sabadham, Panjavarnakilli, Navarathiri, Puthiya Paravai, Patthu Matha Bandham, Anbu Karangal, Micheal Madan Kamarajan, Annamitta Kai, Gowri Kalyanam, Anbe Aaruyire, Server Sundaram, Ner Vazhai, Ninaivin Nindraval, Poojaikku Vandamalar, Deiva Thirumagal, Rakta Thilagam, Aannavin Asai, Thiruvarutchelvar, Seetha and Karunthel Kannayiram.

Manorama, actress Sachu and Jayalalithaa have acted together in 2 films as a combination — Galata Kalyanam and Bommalattam.

In 1974 she shared the screen space with the legendary comedian Mehmood in the Hindi movie Kunwara Baap.

Cho and Manorama were paired together in 20 films which included Malligai Poo, Annaiyum Pidhavum, Dharisanam, Anbai Thedi, Nanaivin Nindraval, Nirai Kudam, Ayiram Poi, Mohammed Bin Tughlaq, Bommalattam, Delhi Mappilai, Vilayattu Pillai, Kanavan, Rojavin Raja and Suryagandhi.

The character she was given by K. Balachander in the 1989 film Unnal Mudiyum Thambi she personally considers a cornerstone as she was giving a new challenge as an actor.

She related in an interview on Toronto TV that one of the most challenging characters she played was the role of the 50-year-old unmarried woman in the 1990 film Nadigan with Sathyaraj.

[17] She has acted with all of the lead comedians across five different generations, which includes M. R. Radha, K. A. Thangavelu, J. P. Chandrababu, A. Karunanithi, Ennatha Kannaiya, V. K. Ramasamy, Nagesh, Cho Ramaswamy, Thengai Seenivasan, M. R. R. Vasu, Suruli Rajan, Vennira Aadai Moorthy, Janagaraj, Pandiarajan, Goundamani, Senthil, Vivek and Vadivelu.

[19] When asked which character of hers she found most hilarious to play, she specified the role of a talkative female, who is forced to act dumb in a film called Unakkum Vazhvu Varum.

Coincidentally, after recovery, the next scene, she had to act was in ''Aadi Viradham,'' where she had to bathe a snake statue and sing a lullaby for it, and the director asked her whether she would like to perform and she replied "Yes very much!"

In 2013 she acted in a Tamil short film named Thaaye Nee Kannurangu, directed by LGR Saravanan.

[25] Tamil Nadu reacted to Manorama's death with an outpouring of grief; numerous tributes were paid to the deceased actor across the state and on social media.

Others who paid homage to the actress include Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Vijay, Vikram, Sivakumar, Dhanush, Ajith Kumar, M. Karunanidhi, K. Veeramani, G. K. Vasan, Delhi Ganesh, R. Sarathkumar, Ilayaraja, Vairamuthu, Karthik, S. Ve.

Shekhar, Vijayakumar, Goundamani, K. Bhagyaraj, R. Parthiban, Radhika, Vimal, Silambarasan, Suriya, Karthi, Vikraman, S. Thanu, T. Rajender and Pandiarajan.