Kamal Haasan was the youngest of the four children in the family, the others being Charuhasan, Chandrahasan and Nalini Raghu.

Kamal Haasan was six years of age when he faced the camera for the first time in the 1960 Tamil flick 'Kalathur Kannamma', which was directed by A Bhimsingh.

Following his successful debut, he starred in five more films as a child actor sharing screen space with Sivaji Ganesan and M G Ramachandran.

Haasan's first film role as an adult was in the 1970 film Maanavan, in which he appeared in a dance sequence. His role in K Balachander's 1973 film Arangetram was the beginning of many noteworthy performances.

His first major break as a lead actor came in 'Apoorva Raagangal' that also starred Rajinikanth. He won his first regional Filmfare Award in his Malayalam debut film 'Kanyakumari' in 1974.

Haasan made his Bollywood debut with 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye' opposite Rati Agnihotri which earned him his first Filmfare nomination. He won his first National Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a school teacher who looks after an amnesia patient in Balu Mahendra's 'Moondram Pirai' which was later remade in the Hindi titled 'Sadma'.

Kamal Haasan was seen in the 1985 'Saagar' opposite Dimple Kapadia and Rishi Kapoor. The film was India's representative for the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film in 1985. He also shared screen space with the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth in the movie 'Geraftaar'.

He also shared screen space with the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth in the movie 'Geraftaar'.

Haasan's movie 'Nayagan', released in 1987 was ranked as one of the best films of all time by the TIME magazine. In 1989, Kamal also played three roles in the movie 'Apoorva Sahodharargal' which later dubbed in Hindi as 'Appu Raja'. (In pic: Kamal Haasan in the movie 'Appu Raja')

Kamal Haasan went on to act in other Hindi movies too which included the controversial 'Hey Ram' and 'Chachi 420'

Haasan has been married twice and has two daughters - Shruti and Akshara from his second wife Sarika. Shruti has already started acting in Tamil films.

Kamal Haasan won the Vijay Awards for 'Dasavathaaram' for Most Popular Hero of the Year, Best Villain, Best Comedian and Best Story-Screenplay Writer. (In pic: Haasan as George Bush in 'Dasavathaaram'.)

All eyes now are on his latest incarnation of a dance teacher in the upcoming Tamil-Hindi bilingual spy thriller 'Vishwaroopam'.

We wish the legendary actor a very happy 58th birthday!