Manivannan (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013) was an Indian film actor, director and writer. In a career spanning three decades, he went from being a story and dialogue writer for director Bharathiraja from 1980–82 to a successful director who throve in experimenting with different genres, before becoming an actor. With over 400 films to his name, Manivannan was one of the most experienced actors in the field and has directed exact 50 films. Manivannan was mainly a supporting actor in films and often played the comedian, supporting character and villain roles.