Kemparaj Urs

D. Kemaparaj Urs (05 February, 1917 - 18 May, 1982), known as simply Kemparaj Urs, was an Indian freedom fighter, actor, director and producer who worked mainly in the Kannada film industry. His movies in 1940s and 1950s created an impact on the audience. Even before Dr. Rajkumar's arrival to the industry, Urs was already an established star. His elder brother D. Devaraj Urs, served as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Kemparaj Urs
File:Kemparaj Urs.jpeg
Born	D. Kemparaj Urs (1917-02-05)5 February 1917 Kallahalli, Hunsur Taluk, Mysore State, British India (present-day Karnataka, India)
Died	18 May 1982(1982-05-18) (aged 65)
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Actor producer director
Years active	1942–1964
Spouse(s)	T. N. Lalitha
Children	3
Parents	Devaraj Urs (father) Devirammanni (mother)
Family	D. Devaraj Urs (brother)

Personal life

Kemparaj Urs was born in Kallahalli, Hunsur taluk in Mysore to Devaraj Urs and Deveerammanni. His elder brother was D. Devaraj Urs. Kemparaj was an English literature student. He married to his classmate Lalitha and had three daughters. Urs aspired to be a doctor but inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and joined freedom struggle and jailed even.

Career

Urs met deyon of Kannada theatre Gubbi Veeranna and started playing in theatre plays in Gubbi company. In 1942, as an independent producer, Gubbi Veeranna made his first film Jeevana Nataka under his own banner Gubbi Films, casting Kemparaj Urs as the male lead opposite to Shanta Hublikar and M. V. Rajamma. Then in 1947, he played the role Kamsa in the film Krishnaleela which was a hit. His biggest success was Raja Vikrama in 1951 which completed 25 weeks in single theatre. He produced and directed a number of movies in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. Urs also chaired the "Karnataka Film Development Board".

Autobiography

Kemparaj Urs has written an autobiography, "Aravattu Varshagalu"(Eng: Sixty years), published in 1979.

Death

Kemparaj Urs died on 18 May 1982, surviving his wife and daughters.

Filmography

Year	Title	Credited as			Language	Role	Notes
		Director	Producer	Actor
1942	Jeevana Nataka	N	N	Y	Kannada	Mohan	Debut film
1947	Mahananda	N	N	Y	Kannada
1947	Krishnaleela	N	N	Y	Kannada	Kamsa
1948	Bhakta Ramadasa	Y	N	Y	Kannada	Badh Shaw
1950	Shiva Parvati	N	N	Y	Kannada
1951	Raja Vikrama	Y	Y	Y	Kannada Tamil	Vikrama
1953	Srikrishna	N	N	Y	Kannada
1954	Karkottai	Y	Y	Y	Tamil
1954	Jaladurga	Y	Y	Y	Kannada
1957	Nala Damayanti	Y	Y	Y	Kannada Telugu Tamil
1959	Azhagarmalai Kalvan	Y	Y	N	Tamil
1964	Nava Jeevana	N	N	Y	Kannada