Jayaram Jayalalithaa (born February 24, 1948, near Mysore [now Mysuru], India—died December 5, 2016, Chennai) was an Indian film actress and politician who served as the leader of the All India Dravidian Progressive Federation (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam; AIADMK). She served a record six times (1991–96; May 14–September 21, 2001; 2002–06; 2011–14; May 23, 2015–May 22, 2016; May 23–December 5, 2016) as chief minister of Tamil Nadu, India. She was popularly known as Amma (“Mother”).
She was born near what is now Mysuru, Karnataka. Her father died when she was two years old, and her family moved first to Bangalore (now Bengaluru) and then to Madras (now Chennai). She learned the classical dance style bharata natyam, and her arangetram (Tamil: “stage debut”) in 1960 was presided over by Tamil actor Sivaji Ganesan, who recognized her talent and urged her to become an actress.