Charle

in the title, "Contributions of Comedians in the growth of Tamil cinema – 1937 to 1967".

Velmurugan Thangasamy Manohar (born 6 March 1960), professionally credited as Charle, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema.

He has acted in more than 800 Tamil films as a comedian and supporting actor.

He was named after the English comedian Charlie Chaplin.

Charle completed his degree in chemistry from G. V. N. College in Kovilpatti, Tamil Nadu.

During his college days, he was known for histrionics and his uncanny ability to imitate Tamil actors like Sivaji Ganesan, Muthuraman and Nagesh.

He is an avid entertainer, and a popular stage artist, while at this colcolharle started his career as a Staff Artist – Actor in Song & Drama Division of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and moved on to perform more than 1000 dramas in six years.

He was named Charlie and got introduced in the film Poikkal Kudhirai in the year 1982 by the director K. Balachander.

He proved to be a versatile actor in comedy as well as character roles in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films; he dubbed his own voice for his role in the Malayalam film Hijack (1995).

He has more than 800 films to his credit and has played a vital role in many films, including films produced by National Film Development Corporation of India.

He is highly talented in miming, mono acting and anchoring in stage shows and has performed in various countries.

Charle holds a Master of Arts degree from Madurai Kamaraj University and Master of Philosophy degree from Karaikkudi Alagappa University.

He submitted his dissertation for M.Phil.

Charlie received PhD in Tamil in the topic "Humour in Tamil Cinema" from Tamil University, Thanjavur in October 2019.

His guide was Professor K. Ravindran, former Head of the Drama department, Tamil University.