Chennai, Oct 24 (IANS): Tamil cinema's Yesteryear actor S.S. Rajendran, who was battling for life at a private hospital here, breathed his last Friday. He was 85.

"He was admitted to Meenakshi Hospital yesterday (Thursday) in critical condition. He passed away this morning (Friday) due to issues related to lung infection," a family source told IANS.

Earlier this year, Rajendran was hospitalised again for lung infection.

Rajendran, who made his cinematic debut with 1952 Tamil film "Parasakthi", has also starred in films like "Ratha Kanner", "Rangoon Radha" and "Sivagangai Seemai".

Having acted in over 50 Tamil films, Rajendran was treated on par with legends such as M.G. Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganeshan.

For nearly two decades, Rajendran was actively involved in politics. He was known as the first actor-legislator of Indian politics.

Under the establishment of SSR Pankajam, Rajendran's wife Pankajam and he had built a cinema theatre, film studio and recording theatre.