Ashok Kumar (13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), also fondly called Dadamoni in Bengali, was an Indian film actor. Born Kumudlal Ganguly in Bhagalpur, Bengal Presidency, he attained iconic status in Indian cinema. The Government of India honoured him with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1988 and the Padma Bhushan in 1998 for his contributions to Indian cinema.

 

His brothers Anoop Kumar and Kishore Kumar also acted in films. The three brothers worked together in the comedies Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi and Badhti Ka Naam Dadhi. Ashok, though the eldest of the three by quite a margin, survived them both. In fact, he stopped celebrating his birthday after the youngest brother, Kishore, died on that day in 1987. His sister, Sati Devi, was married to Sashadhar Mukherjee of the Mukherjee-Samarth family.

 

Ashok Kumar married Shobha. His daughter, Preeti Ganguly, acted in numerous Hindi films during the 1970s; later she started the 'Ashok Kumar's Academy of Dramatic Arts', Mumbai in 1993. She died in 2012 of cardiac arrest at the age of 59. His other daughter Rupa Ganguly and son Arun Ganguly never joined films. Rupa is married to actor Deven Verma.