Chennai: Journalist, political analyst and comedian Cho S Ramaswamy died on Wednesday at Apollo Hospital here, an official said. He was 82.

A former member of the Rajya Sabha, Ramaswamy was ailing for some time and was in the hospital where he breathed his last at around 4 a.m. The body has been shifted to his residence here.

A law graduate, Ramaswamy founded and edited the political magazine Thuglak and was fearless in criticising the ruling government in the state or at the centre. He had a personal rapport with many politicians in the country. The late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa was a good friend of his and used to seek his views.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jayalalithaa had called on him when he was seriously ill early this year.

A multifaceted personality, Ramaswamy was a playwriter and a stage actor. He has also directed several movies and written screenplays. Ramaswamy has acted in movies along with M G Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, Jayalalithaa, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikant and others. He has written, directed and acted in over 20 Tamil plays which were performed over 5,000 times, has acted in 180 movies, scripted 14 movies and directed four films.

On the small screen, Ramaswamy has written, acted and directed several serials in Tamil and has also written novels.

He was a member of the B R C Cricket Club which played in the II division of the Madras Cricket Association (now Tamil Nadu Cricket Association) in the 1950s.

Ramaswamy also practised law in the Madras High Court from 1957-63. He was a legal adviser to the TTK & Co. group of companies till 1978.