He was 90.
"He passed away at around 5.40 pm in a private hospital here and the last rites and cremation will be held tomorrow," Raghavan's daughter-in-law Janaki Srinivasan told PTI, adding that the veteran was battling pancreatic cancer.
Raghavan is survived by two sons and his wife predeceased.
Noted for his unique style of dialogue delivery, Raghavan debuted in Tamil film industry with "Vairamalai" in 1954 and went on to act in more than 1,000 movies.
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He has acted in several films by Tamil icons M G Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan.
Along with his friends, he started a drama troupe Indian National Artistes (INA) in which veteran film director K Balachander was also a member. Later, he came to cinema.
"Pallandu Vaazhga", "Neethiku Thalai Vanangu", "Savale Samali", "Iru Kodugal" were some of the films in which he played good roles.
"Azhagu Raja" was his recent movie which released in 2013 with Karthi in the lead.
AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa among others condoled the death of the actor.