Popular Telugu film comedian Amanchi Venkata Subrahmanyam died of liver ailment here tonight at the age of 56.
He was also a leader of Telugu Desam Party.
AVS, as he was popularly known, hailed from Tenali in Guntur district.
Starting his career as a journalist with Telugu daily Andhra Jyothy, he shot to fame with his debut film 'Mister Pellam', directed by Bapu, in which he played a memorable comic role as a stammer and won the state government's Nandi award.
He acted in more than 400 films and also directed four Telugu movies and produced two.
Though he mainly essayed comedy roles, AVS also played character roles and comic villains in a few films.
He acted with all the leading stars of Telugu film industry like Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Balakrishna, Venkatesh, and also the current generation.
He had been general secretary of Telugu Movie Artists Association three times.
AVS joined Telugu Desam Party in late 1990s and was its spokesman and executive secretary, apart from heading its cultural wing.
In 2008, he underwent a liver transplantation when his daughter donated a portion of her liver to save him from a critical condition. He recovered and led a healthy life for over four years.
This year, however, the ailment resurfaced and he was admitted to Global Hospital here last week and put on ventilator support.
