 He died aged 56 on 11 July 1979 at around 4.30 a.m. due to severe heart attack.After his death, an annual cine award, the "Narasimharaju Prashasti" was established in his memory.He was the busiest actor in the Kannada film industry, even actors like Rajkumar used to wait for his callsheet, and used to adjust to his dates.