Prasad was born into a middle-class family to Gadde Venkata Narayana and Manikyamba from Nimmakuru, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh. His father was a teacher. Prasad completed his graduation with a diploma in Ceramic Engineering before entering the film industry. He joined a company, but had to resign from the job because he was too young. After witnessing the shooting of the film, Tatamma Kala, he had an ambition to join the industry, and with the suggestion of N.T.R and N. Trivikrama Rao he joined an acting school.
Career
Prasad made his debut as an actor on the silver screen with the film Sneham, directed by Bapu. Initially he worked as a dubbing artist and played many supporting roles. He played a supporting role in the film Ramarajyamlo Bheemaraju, starring Krishna, which fetched him a chance in 14 films. He was identified by director Vamsy to play a lead role in his film, Preminchu Pelladu. He rose to fame with Vamsy's Ladies Tailor. He continued to act in supporting roles while also playing lead roles. In a career of over 35 years, he acted in more than 200 Telugu films and few Tamil films. Prasad has been called a great comedy actor and is fondly called the King of Comedy and Natakireeti in Andhra Pradesh. His collaboration with director Jandhyala in Aha Naa Pellanta established him as a overnight star. He also made successful collaboration with directors Vamsy, E. V. V. Satyanarayana, S. V. Krishna Reddy and Relangi Narasimha Rao. Notably, Relangi made 32 films with Prasad. One major role which garnered him a lot of accolades was in the movie Aa Naluguru, for which he has won the State Nandi Award for the second time in his career. Critically acclaimed films such as Mee Sreyobhilashi and Onamalu made him one of the most promising actors in Telugu film industry. He acted as Lord Hanuman in the blockbuster multi-starrer film Devullu. He played remarkable characters as supporting artist in films such as Julai, Aagadu, S/O Satyamurthy, Srimanthudu and Nannaku Prematho as well as elderly characters in films like Dagudumoota Dandakore. Telugu people emigrated abroad would take Prasad's movies along with them, such was the popularity and impact of his films on at least two generations of Telugu people. The then prime minister P. V. Narasimha Rao too was a huge fan of Prasad. He was elected as a President of Movie Artist Association during the year 2015, with a majority of 85 votes against actress Jayasudha while Sivaji Raja was elected as a General Secretary of MAA during the same period.
