Rattihalli Nagendra Sudarshan (2 May 1939 – 8 September 2017) was an Indian actor and producer who had mainly worked in Kannada cinema. He had also acted in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Malayalam films. During a career spanning more than five decades, he had acted in more than 250 films.

Personal life

R. N. Sudarshan was the son of veteran actor R. Nagendra Rao. His elder brother R. N. Jayagopal (died 2008) was a famous lyricist and eldest brother R. N. K. Prasad (died 2012) was a famous cinematographer. He was married to actress Shylashri.

Career

In 1961, Sudarshan was launched as lead actor in the Kannada film field at age 21 in ''Vijayanagarada Veeraputra'', and he was the lead for over 60 films before appearing in villainous roles.Sudarshan was honoured with the prestigious Dr. Rajkumar Lifetime Achievement Award of 2009–10.