Dharmendra was born Dharam Singh Deol in a Jat Sikh family on 8 December 1935. His father was the headmaster in the village of lalton Kalan, Ludhiana, which was where Dharmendra also completed his senior secondary education. His family is deeply involved with the film industry. His sons with his first wife Parkash Kaur, Bobby Deol and Sunny Deol are both actors, and his daughters with his second wife, prominent actress Hema Malini, Esha Deol and Ahana Deol are also important film personalities. Dharmendra moved to Mumbai from Punjab in order to pursue a career in film and made his film debut with Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere (1960). He had arrived in Mumbai after winning the Filmfare New Talent award. After his debut, he got a string of films in which he played supporting roles, and was often cast in films that were women oriented. Alongside prominent actress Nutan, he worked in Soorat Aur Seerat (1962), Bandini (1963), Dulhan Ek Raat Ki, Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya (1966), and alongside Mala Sinha, he worked in Anpadh (1962), Pooja Ke Phool (1964) and Neela akash (1965), and also with Saira Banu in Ayee Milan Ki Bela (1964), with Meena Kumari in Main Bhi Ladki Hoon (1964), Kaajal (1965), and Purnima (1965). Ayee Milan Ki Bela (1964) was a huge hit and Dharmendra got a lot of recognition for his work. He also reinvented himself in the 1970s and acquired the image of an action hero. Films like Pramod Chakravorty’s Jugnu (1973), Vijay Anand’s Blackmail (1973), Ramanand Sagar’s Lalkar (1972), Ravee Nagaich’s Keemat (1973), Nasir Husain’s Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973) and Harmesh Malhotra’s Patthar Aur Payal (1974) made him a popular action hero, earning him the moniker of ‘He-Man’. His versatility as an actor was proven when he also did comic roles with great delivery in films like Tum Haseen Main Jawan (1970), Do Chor (1972), Chupke Chupke (1975), Sholay (1975) and Dillagi (1978). The most notable performances by Dharmendra have been in Satyakam (1969) and Sholay (1975). He recently appeared in films like Life In A... Metro (2007) and Apne (2008), both of which did well commercially and critically. After this, he worked with his sons again in Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011) and then in Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 (2013). He also was a part of his wife Hema Malini’s directorial venture Tell me O Kkhuda (2011) in which he acted with his daughter, Esha Deol. His production banner, Vijayta Films has made several films such as Betaab(1983) that launched his son Sunny Deol, then Barsaat (1995), debut of his younger son Bobby Deol. The film Ghayal (1990) made under this banner won several awards, including a National Film Award. The huge success of this film prompted him to produce the sequel Ghayal Once Again (2016). He also made Socha Na Tha (2005) to launch his nephew Abhay Deol. Dharmendra is also popular in the Punjabi film industry, and has also acted in and made films like Do Sher (1974), Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam (1974), Teri Meri Ik Jindri (1975), Putt Jattan De (1982) and Qurbani Jatt Di (1990).

Apart from his countless contributions to the film industry, Dharmendra has also served as a Member of Parliament from Bikaner, Rajasthan. He was a candidate from the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2004 elections. Dharmendra has also been a judge on the reality show India’s Got Talent in the year 2011.

He was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. He was also a recipient of the coveted Padma Bhushan in 2012.