Sukumari was born on 6 October 1940 in Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, to Malayali parents Madhavan Nair (a bank manager) and Sathyabhama Amma of Tharishuthala Valia Veedu in Kalkulam (in present-day Kanyakumari District). Sathyabhama Amma was the niece of Narayani Pillai Kunjamma, a famous beauty who spurned the king in favour of marrying the aristocratic landowner Kesava Pillai of Kandamath Through her cousin, Ambika, she is related to the Travancore Royal Family.

She studied at Poojappura LP School until second grade; she then moved to Madras, where she studied until fourth forum. She had four sisters (Rajakumari, Sreekumari, Jayasree and Girija) and one brother.

She left home at a young age to study dance with her aunt (Kunjamma) Saraswathi Amma in Chennai, alongside her first cousins the Travancore Sisters: Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini (their mothers were sisters). She learned dance with the sisters and mastered dance forms such as Kerala Natanam, Kathakali, Bharathanatyam etc. Before moving to Chennai she started learning dance from her Valiyamma Karthyani Amma. She went for an all-India tour with the sisters.

Sukumari was noticed by a director when she visited the sets of a film with Padmini, and she made her film debut in the lead role in the Tamil film Or Iravu. She acted in various Malayalam films of the black and white era, such as Udhyogastha, by P. Venu, Chettathi, Kusruthikkuttan, Kunjali Marakkar, Thacholi Othenan, Yakshi and Karinizhal. She later became popular after starring in various films of Priyadarshan such as Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, Oodarathuammava Aalariyam, Boeing Boeing and Vandanam. She also appeared in various films directed by Balachandra Menon such as Manicheppu Thurannappol and Karyam Nissaram. In later years, she played a major role in Nizhalkuthu (2002), directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan. She played many notable mother roles. She acted in films in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Simhala, Oriya and Bengali, and used her own voice in all languages without using dubbing artists.

She starred in many television serials in Malayalam and Tamil, including Swapnam, Thulabharam, Swamiye Saranamayyappa, Madhavam, Daivathinu Swantham Devootty, Vandanam, Mayamma, Sreeguruvaayoorappan, Malakhamar, Aakashadhoothu, Velankanni Mathavu, Megham, Manasi, Amma Thamburaatti, Amme Devi, Swarnamayooram, Avicharitham, Thalolam, Manthrakodi, Coimbatore Ammayi and so on. She appeared in many serials by Sreekumaran Thampi. She appeared in some advertisements and albums. She was a good singer. She conducted a few concerts. She participated in many stage shows, cultural programmes, public functions, performances and talk shows. She served as a judge on various popular reality shows, including Minnum Tharam and Idea Star Singer, both on Asianet, Comedy Festival on Mazhavil Manorama, Amma Ammayiyamma and Pachaka Rani both on Kairali TV. She acted in many short films, including the popular Sheetha Kaattu. Her Bengali movie with Gopi Krishna included seven dance numbers. She learned to play some musical instruments in her childhood, including the Mridangam and Veena. She had featured in many Sinhala movies as a dancer. From the age of seven years, she danced on stages throughout India, U.S.A., Singapore, Malaysia, Ceylon, etc. She performed in different troupes such as "Dances of India" along with the Travancore Sisters (Lalitha, Padmini, Ragini), Pushpanjali: Along with Mrs. Raja Sulochana (film artiste) she did more than 5000 stage shows, with Kuchala Kumari Troupe: Did about 1000 stage shows. She was an active stage drama artiste for the past 40 years in Mr. Y.G. Parthasarathy Troupe (1000 stage shows), Viveka Fine Arts Club: More than 5000 stage shows, directed by Cho. Ramaswamy. She attended many cultural stage shows all over the world in places like Singapore, Malaysia, Ceylon, Dubai, U.S.A., Germany, etc. Awards named "Sukumari Smaraka Puraskaram" and "Faema Sukumari Puraskaram" have been instituted in her memory.

Sukumari married director A. Bhimsingh in 1959. He died in 1978. She was 38 when her husband died. The couple had a son, Suresh, who has acted in films such as Amme Narayana, Yuvajanotsavam and Cheppu, and is a professional doctor. Suresh got married to Uma, a costume designer. Suresh and Uma have a son named Vignesh.^[11] Malayalam actors Ambika Sukumaran, Vineeth, Shobana and Krishna are her relatives.

On 26 March 2013, Sukumari died from a cardiac arrest at a hospital in Chennai, where she was receiving treatments for burns she had sustained while lighting a traditional lamp at her residence in February 2013.^{[6][12][13][14]}

Response

Following her death, several South Indian personalities offered their condolences. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who had co-starred with Sukumari, said in a condolence message that Sukumari had left a unique imprint on South Indian cinema and theatre with her talents. Kerala's Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy called Sukumari a "phenomenon in Malayalam cinema". Actor and Minister for Cinema K.B. Ganesh Kumar said actors in the Malayalam film industry had lost "the loving presence of a mother in the sets". Leader of the Opposition V. S. Achuthanandan called Sukumari's death a "huge loss for Indian cinema". Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala said Sukumari would be remembered for "the diversity of characters that she gave life to". Communist Party of India State Secretary Pannian Ravindran said Sukumari was "an unforgettable acting genius". Union Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs K. V. Thomas described Sukumari as an actor who conquered the film scene with her unique acting style.^[15] South Indian Film Artistes Association president R. Sarathkumar remembered the actress as being an inspiration to others. Actor and renowned television producer Raadhika Sarathkumar recalled Sukumari's many dance performances.^[16] Actor and president of Association of Malayalam Movie Artists Innocent said at a condolence meeting at Kochi that her death was an irreparable loss to Malayalam film industry. South Indian film star Mohanlal likened her death to the loss of "a mother, sister and a good friend". Speaker G. Karthikeyan also expressed grief at her death.^[17] Director Shaji Kailas deemed her loss an "irreparable one for the film industry".^[18]

• Cinema of India