Happy Birthday Johnny Lever: Here are some lesser known facts about the actor-comedian!

On ace-comedian Johnny Lever's birthday, let's look at ten lesser known facts about him.

Photo Courtesy : Twitter

New Delhi: While Johnny Lever is a household name today, he has struggled a lot to make his mark in the industry. From ‘Judaai’ to ‘Kunwara’, the ace-standup comedian has done many such memorable roles in his career. Here are the ten lesser-known facts about Johnny Lever  

He worked at Hindustan Unilever for six years 

Not many are aware that before venturing into the field of acting and comedy, Johnny Lever worked at Hindustan Unilever for six years. His father used to work as an operator there and he also started working as a labourer. 

He studied only till the 7th grade 

Due to the poor financial status of his family, Johnny Lever had to drop out of school after 7th grade. To support his family, he started working at odd jobs like selling pens on the street, mimicking Bollywood actors etc. 

He used to sell pens on the street 

While he is a successful comedian now, Johnny Lever struggled way too hard to make ends meet in the beginning of his career. He used to sell pens on the streets of Mumbai for survival. 

His real name is John Prakash Rao Janumala 

While the ace comedian is famous as his stage name Johnny Lever, not many people know that his real name is John Prakash Rao Janumala. He was a born into a Telugu Christian family in Andhra Pradesh.  

He was first spotted by Sunil Dutt 

Johnny Lever’s talent was first spotted by Late actor Sunil Dutt during one of his comedy shows. The legendary actor later went on to cast him in ‘Dard ka Rishta’ and the rest is history. 

He has worked in more than 300 movies 

In a career span of more than three decades, Johnny Lever has worked in more than 300 films. Some of his most famous performances has been in blockbuster films like ‘Raja Hindustani’ and ‘Baazigar’ among others.  

His younger brother Jimmy Moses is also a comedian 

While Johnny Lever is a self-made man and does not have any prior connections with the film industry, comedy truly runs in his family. His younger brother Jimmy Moses is also a comedian and a mimicry artist. Even his daughter Jamie Lever appears in several comedy shows.

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His first film was ‘Dard Ka Rishta’ 

Johnny Lever’s first film was Sunil Dutt’s ‘Dard ka Rishta’ where he portrayed the character of Joseph. Based on the illness of cancer, the movie was a hit.  

He has won two Filmfare Awards 

For his extraordinary talent, Johnny Lever has won two Filmfare Awards for best performance in a comic role in ‘Deewana Mastana’ and ‘Dulhe Raja’. 

He got his first break with ‘Tum Par Hum Qurban’ 

Before even venturing into films, Johnny Lever started out with a television show called ‘Tum Par Hum Qurban’ which launched Baby Tabassum’s son Hoshang Govil.