Dara Singh: Tributes pour in to actor-wrestler Singh, who was born in Punjab on 19 November 1928, trained in the Indian 'Pehlwani' wrestling style and fought in more than 500 professional bouts all over the world and never lost a single contest. He was intensely proud of being Commonwealth champion, of beating world famous wrestlers such as Stanislaus Zbyszko and of defeating Lou Theze of America to win the World Wrestling Championship in 1968. He suffered a heart attack and died at his Mumbai home this morning and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said of the actor, who had also served in India's parliament from 2003-2009: "I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing away of Shri Dara Singh, who has been an inspiration and icon to many generations in our country. A self-educated son-of-the-soil, he rose to the heights of the entertainment world, sports arena and public life with humility and grace. His contribution to the Hindi and Punjabi cinema, wrestling and the Upper House of the Parliament will be remembered by millions. Singh took up acting in the 1950s, carving his niche with tough man roles in films such as King Kong, Hercules, Samson and Tarzan comes to Delhi. His popularity increased in the 1980s when he played the monkey god Hanuman in the popular television series of Ramayan, an adaptation of the Hindu epic, and he appeared in more than 140 films. His last movie appearance was in Jab We Met (When We Met) in 2007, playing the role of grandfather to leading Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor. Veteran Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan described Singh as "a great Indian and one of the finest humans. An entire era of his celebrated presence gone! Singh, who began life as a farmer in the village of Dharmuchak, was a humble man, listing his professions once as: "Agriculture, Wrestling, Cine Artist (Producer and Director) ." He was married twice and leaves behind six children.