Background
He was born in 1902 at Bapatla of Guntur district to Hanumantha Rao and Ademma.
He was born in 1902 at Bapatla of Guntur district to Hanumantha Rao and Ademma.
He was well known for playing stunning female characters and was a recipient of a Padma Sri Award. He entered the theatre in 1920 and, rigorously trained by Veeraraghava Swamy, played for the Rama Vilasa Sabha of nearby Tenali. Foreign nearly four decades (1924-1960), he excelled in female characterization.
His depiction of the Sringara rasa as Satyabhama in Srikrishna tulabharam kept audiences spellbound.
Equally enchanting performances in Roshanara, Deva Devi in Vipranarayana and the eponymous Chintamani made his place in Telugu theater permanent. His most memorable acting, however, was as Madhuravani in Gurajada Appa Rao's comedy Kanyasulkam.
Sthanam had over 1,500 performances to his cartulary-register His productions of classics on All India Radio include Kanyasulkam and Ganapati.
He acted in some Telugu films ("Radhakrishna" in 1939 and Satyabhama in 1941) and authored a book about his vast acting experience entitled, Natasthanam.
He was felicitated in Rangoon and gifted golden crown in 1938. His Sashtipoorti was grandly celebrated in 1962 at Hyderabad. He died in 1971.