Veteran actor Shammi Kapoor is dead

Mumbai, Aug 14 (IANS) Bollywood actor Shammi Kapoor, a veteran of the Hindi cinema in the 1950s and 60s, died here Sunday morning, family sources said. He was 79.

A member of the famed Kapoor family, the actor passed away at the Breach Candy Hospital at 5 a.m. He was admitted to the hospital a week ago for renal failure.

He was the second of three sons born to the iconic Prithviraj Kapoor. His equally versatile actor brothers were Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor.

Shammi Kapoor joined the cinema world in 1948 as a junior artist for Rs.150 a month. His debut in Bollywood came in 1953 with the film 'Jeevan Jyoti'. In a career that stretched into the 1970s, the tall, athletic and green-eyed hero starred in numerous hits, including 'An Evening in Paris', 'China Town', 'Kashmir Ki Kali', 'Janwar' and 'Junglee'.

Sharmila Tagore and Asha Parekh were his leading heroines, the latter teaming up with him for his spectacular murder mystery of 1966, 'Teesri Manzil'.