Gummadi Venkateswara Rao (9 July 1928 – 26 January 2010) was an Indian film actor and producer, known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema and a few Tamil films. Known as one of the finest method actors, Gummadi starred in around five hundred feature films. He received critical recognition for his work in "Thodu Dongalu" (1954) and "Mahamantri Timmarusu" (1962), for which he has received the erstwhile Rashtrapati Award. Gummadi was an official member of the Indian delegation from South India to the "Tashkent Film Festival" in 1978 and 1982.