She was born in Nagercoil in 1940. Sukumari is a first cousin of the Travencore sisters, Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini (their mothers are sisters). She learned dance with the sisters and mastered danceforms like Keralanadanam, Kathakali and Bharathanatyam. ^[2]She went for an all-India tour with the sisters. Sukumari was noticed by a director when she went to the sets of a film with Padmini, and she debuted in the lead role in the Tamil film Orarivu^[2]. She was married to Director A. Bheemsingh until he passed away when she was barely 30. She acted in various Malayalam films of the later black and white age, likeChettathi, Kusruthikkuttan, Kunjali Marakkar, Thacholi Othenan, Yakshi and Karinizhal. She became popular in the later years by acting in various films of Priyadarshan like Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, Oodarathuammava Aalariyam, Boeing Boeing and Vandanam. She was also noticed in various films directed by Balachandra Menon like Manicheppu Thurannappol and Karyan Nissaram^[2]. In later years she did a major role in Nizhalkkuthu(2002) directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan^[3]. She has also done may mother roles and many of them are well-noted. She has acted in films in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi, and used her own voice in all languages without using dubbing artists. She is still actively involved in films, TV Serials and stage dramas.

Sukumari(Malayalam: സുകുമാരി) is an Indian actress from Kerala who has primarily acted inMalayalam and Tamil movies. She has been acting for more than 60 years and has acted in different roles and languages. The total number of her movies is presumed to be about 2,000 movies. Even after having entertained generations with diverse tastes, she is still a much sought-after actress.

§                     2003-Padma Shri, one of the top civilian awards of India

§                     2002-Special honour at Gurupooja, Soorya Festival for lifetime achievement

§                     Chalachithra Ratnam by Kerala Film Critics Association

§                     Abhinaya Bharathi by Kalakairali, Chennai.

Kerala State Film Award for Best Supporting Actress

§                     1974- Various films

§                     1978- Various films

§                     1985-Arappatta Kettiya Gramathil (directed by Padmarajan)

Kerala Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress

§                     1979- Ezhu Nirangal (directed by I. V. Sasi)

§                     1982- Chiriyo Chiri

§                     1985- Arappatta Kettiya Gramathil