Advanced search

Born in 1944 Istanbul, Turkey. Graduated from Vefa High School, Fatih, Istanbul. Sunal acted in many popular films, although he began his artistic career in the theater. His first play was called, "Unwilling Doctor" and he later worked at the Devekusu Kabare Theatre with Ulvi Uraz. Although Sunal had minor roles at first, after 1973 he was highly acclaimed for his roles in movies with large casts. He won the Antalya Film Festival's Golden Orange Award in 1977. He contributed greatly to Turkish cinema with his successful acting, including his roles in such movies as "Hababam Sinifi" (Outrageous Class), "Kapicilar Krali" (King of Janitors), "Salako" (Moron), "Inek Saban" (Shaban the Cow) and "Davaro". Sunal's latest role was in Sinan Cetin's border comedy "Propaganda"(1999). He also made a TV commercial.

Kemal Sunal died suddenly of a heart attack on July 3 at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport. he had just boarded the plane for Trabzon, where he was to take part in the filming of director Ali Ozgenturk's "Balalaika" (2000).

His death caused a wave of sorrow across Turkey. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and Minister of Culture Istemihan Talay and other politicians sent messages of condolence expressing their sorrow.

Fahrettin Cüreklibatir, better known by his stage name Cüneyt Arkin, is a Turkish film actor, director, and producer. Having starred in somewhere around 250 movies and also TV series, he is widely considered as one of the most prominent Turkish actors of all time. His films shown abroad credited him as George Arkin. Arkin's films have ranged from well-received dramas to mockbusters throughout his career spanning four decades.

Early in his career, Arkin became known for starring in historical dramas taking place during the first centuries of the Ottoman Empire and Anatolian Seljuks, such as Malkoçoglu Cem Sultan and Battal Gazi. While gaining success with such action-based films, he also took part in political films in the late 1970s, the most famous of those being The Adam Trilogy directed by Remzi Aydin Jöntürk. Arkin and Jöntürk continued their collaboration on many other films.

In the 1980s, Arkin became known abroad for the film Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam (The Man Who Saves The World, also known as Turkish Star Wars), an extremely low-budget science fiction tentatively famous for featuring bootlegged scenes from Star Wars. Today the B movie has a cult following.

Fahrettin Cüreklibatur was born in the village of Gökçeoglu in the Alpu district of Eskisehir Province, Turkey to a family of Crimean Tatar and Nogai origin.

After graduation from the university as a physician, Cüreklibatir married his classmate Güler Mocan in 1965. In 1966, their daughter Filiz was born. The marriage did not last long due to Cüreklibatir's newly flourishing career as a film actor.

In 1968, he took the stage name Cüneyt Arkin, and met Betül Isil, the daughter of a wealthy family that owned a tile manufacturing company. Isil, a graduate of a university in Switzerland was working as a flight attendant at the time. They were engaged in 1969, married in 1970, and divorced in 1971. Soon afterwards, they remarried and Betül gave birth to two sons, Murat and Kaan Polat. Arkin's wife and sons have starred in several of his films.

Mustafa was born in 1881 in Salonica, then an Ottoman Turkish city, in modern day Greece. His father, Ali Riza, a customs official-turned-lumber merchant, died when Mustafa was still a boy. His mother, Zubeyde, a devout and strong-willed woman, raised him and his younger sister by herself. First enrolled in a traditional Islamic religious school, he soon switched to a modern school. In 1893, he entered a military high school where his mathematics teacher gave him the second name Kemal (meaning perfection in Turkish) in recognition of young Mustafa's superior achievement. He was thereafter known as Mustafa Kemal.

In 1905, Mustafa Kemal graduated from the War Academy in Istanbul with the rank of Staff Captain. Posted in Damascus, Syria, then a part of the Ottoman Empire, he started with several colleagues a clandestine society called "Homeland and Freedom" to fight against the Sultan's despotism. In 1908, he helped the group of officers who toppled the Sultan. Mustafa Kemal's career flourished as he won his heroism in the far corners of the Ottoman Empire during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911-12 as well as the Balakan Wars of 1913 in which he saw action in Albania and Tripoli, Libya. He also briefly served as a staff officer in Salonica and Istanbul and as a military attache in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In October, 1914, the Ottoman Empire offically entered World War I alongside Germany and Austria as part of the Central Powers fighting the Allies of Great Britian, France, Italy and Russia. In 1915, when the Dardanelles/Galipoli campaign was launched, Mustafa Kemal, recently premoted to Colonel, became a national hero by winning successive victories against the landing British French and ANZAC armies, pinning them down at their beacheads, which finally forced the invaders to evacuate Galipoli in January 1916. Promoted to General later that year, at age 35, he liberated two major provinces in eastern Turkey against the Russian armies. In the next two years, from 1917 to 1918, he served as commander of several Ottoman armies in Palestine, Aleppo, and elsewhere, achieving another major victory by stopping the British advance at Aleppo just before the war-weary Turkish armies agreed to an armistice with the British on October 31, 1918 which ended World War I in the Middle East. As a result of the Ottoman Empire's defeat, the Turks lost all of their Middle East territories with the exception of the traditional Turkish area around the region of Asia Minor.

On May 19, 1919, Mustafa Kemal Pasha landed in the Black Sea port of Samsun to start the Greco-Turkish War, (known to the Turks as the War of Independence.) In defiance of the Sultan's government, he rallied a liberation army in Anatolia and convened the Congress of Erzurum and Sivas which established the basis for the new national effort under his leadership. On April 23, 1920, the Grand National Assembly was inaugurated. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was elected as its President. Fighting on many fronts, he led his forces to victory against rebels and the invading Greek armies. Following the Turkish triumph at the two major battles at Izunu in Western Turkey, the Grand National Assembly conferred on Mustafa Kemal Pasha the title of Commander-in-Chief with the rank of Marshal. At the end of August 1922, the Turkish armies won their ultimate victory. Within a few weeks, the Turkish mainland was completely liberated, an armistice with Greece was signed, and the rule of the Ottoman dynasty was abolished.

In July 1923, the national government signed the Lausanne Treaty with Great Britain, France, Greece, Italy, and others countries which regonized the new country of Turkey. In mid-October, Ankara became the capital of the new Turkish State. On October 29, the Republic was proclaimed and Mustafa Kemal Pasha was unanimously elected President of the Republic. Kemal married Latife Usakligil in early 1923. The marriage ended in divorce in 1925.

The account of Kemal Atatürk's fifteen year Presidency (1923-1938) is a saga of dramatic modernization. With indefatigable determination, he created a new political and legal system based on a Swiss Civil Code, abolished the Islamic Caliphate and made both government and education secular, gave equal rights to women, changed the Turkish language by transfering the written language from the Arabic script to the Roman alphabet, and the attire from Islamic to Western, and advanced the arts and the sciences, agriculture and industry.

In 1934, when the surname law was adopted, the national parliament gave him the name "Atatürk" (Turkish for Father of the Turks). A heavy drinker most of his life, Atatürk developed liver and kidney problems durng the last year of his life. He died on November 10, 1938, at age 57. The "national liberator" and the "Father of modern Turkey" was dead. But his legacy to his people and to the world endures to this very day.

Tarik Akan's real name is Tarik Üregül and he was born in Istanbul in 1949 and grew up in the other parts of Turkey because of his father's job. His father was a colonel. Before he started his acting career he worked as a lifeguard on the beaches, rented boats to people... He also went on going to the university (Yildiz Teknik) at nights studying mechanical engineering.

He entered a contest of a famous magazine called "Voice(Ses)" back then to earn some money and he won the contest as a first runner up... He acted in his first film in 1970, at the age of 21... He left the university and joined the journalism faculty. He learnt film grammar from the famous Turkish film director 'Ertem Eilmez'. In 1974 the famous Turkish theatre director and writer 'Vasif Öngören' was his teacher. Back in the 70s, he took the young handsome lad roles in romantic comedies. Then going parallel with his age; he took roles in political strong dramas and he made it today. He has acted in 110 films and he took place in many unforgettable movies in the Turkish film history, won lots of awards from various festivals including Cannes, Berlin.

He directed several productions such as documentaries and serials for TV. He's been considered as the most handsome actor in Turkey also one of the best... He's been an educator for 11 years now and he wrote his first book "Anne Kafamda Bit Var" (biographical) in 2002. He's still going on with his acting career and keep enchanting his fans.

Yildiz Kenter was born on 11 October 1928 in Istanbul, Turkey. She was an actress, known for Agaçlar Ayakta Ölür (1964), Kizim Ayse (1974) and Madame (1989). She was married to Sükran Güngör and Nihat Akçan. She died on 17 November 2019 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Tuncel Kurtiz was born in 1936, Izmit-Turkey. He graduated from Istanbul University, English Language and Literature and started acting in 1956 with Dormen Theatre. With the movie 'Suru', he reached the peak of his acting career. Kurtiz received many awards in Turkey and also abroad. He also known as director, producer and scenarist.

Fatma Girik was born on 12 December 1942 in Istanbul, Turkey. She was an actress and producer, known for Ezo Gelin (1968), Sürtügün Kizi (1967) and Bos Besik (1969). She died on 24 January 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Kartal Tibet was born on 27 March 1939 in Ankara, Turkey. He was a director and actor, known for Sabaniye (1984), Deli Deli Küpeli (1986) and Sosyete Saban (1985). He was married to Gündüz Tibet. He died on 1 July 2021 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Ertem Egilmez was born on 18 February 1929 in Trabzon, Turkey. He was a director and producer, known for My Dear Brother (1973), Kalbimin Efendisi (1970) and A Nation Awakens (1966). He died on 21 September 1989 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Atif Yilmaz Batibeki was a renowned Turkish film director, screenwriter, and film producer. After finishing high school in Mersin, he attended the Law School of Istanbul University. Because of his interest in arts, he dropped out of Law School and entered the Painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul. After graduating from the Academy, he did some painting works in workshops. His education in painting helped him when he was directing his movies, as he once remarked. In the beginning, he worked as a film critic, made paintings and wrote film scripts to earn a living. After co-directing two movies as an assistant director to Semih Evin in 1950, his directing career began with the film Kanli Feryat (The Bloody Cry). In 1960, he established his film company "Yerli Film" with the actor Orhan Günsiray.

The most important movies in his filmography were: Hickirik (The Sob), Alageyik (The Fallow Deer), Suclu (The Guilty One), Seni Kaybedersem (If I Lose You), Yaban Gülü (The Wild Rose), Kesanli Ali Destani (Kesanli Ali's Epic), Tacsiz Kral (The Crownless King), Topragin Kani (Blood of the Earth), Olum Tarlasi (Death Field), Utanc (The Shame), Zavallilar (The Poor People), Selvi Boylum, Al Yazmalim (My Girl with the Red Scarf), Baskin (The Raid), Adak (The Sacrifice), Bir Yudum Sevgi (A Sip of Love), Adi Vasfiye (Her Name is Vasfiye), Berdel, Düs Gezginleri (Walking After Midnight), Eylül Firtinasi (After the Fall) and Mine.

He made movies that were both fluent and had mainly social messages. Most of the themes of his movies were taboo when they were produced. Particularly "Mine" and "Her Name is Vasfiye" were both revolutionary at the time of their release with themes regarding sexuality and the reaction of society.

He never gave up making movies throughout his life and even in the time when the industry stopped filmmaking due to economic reasons.

Atif Yilmaz played an important role in the professional career of notable Turkish film directors like Halit Refig, Yilmaz Güney, Serif Gören, Zeki Ökten and Ali Özgentürk.

During the Antalya Film Festival in September 2005, he was admitted to hospital with gastro-intestinal complaints. He died on 5 May 2006 in Istanbul.

Arap Celal was born in 1922. He was an actor, known for Süper Selami (1979), Feyzo, the Polite One (1978) and Yalniz Adam (1974). He died in 1993 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Tekin Temel was born on 24 June 1968 in Manisa, Turkey. He was an actor, known for Turks in Space (2006), 46 Yok Olan (2016) and Suskunlar (2012). He died on 23 October 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Born in 1929, Metin Erksan is one of the first Turkish filmmakers who saw cinema as an art form apart from a mass entertaining medium. Having studied art history in Istanbul University and being the brother of a little known director named Cetin Karamanbey, Erksan found himself at a very early age in a favourable position to combine film practice with aesthetic concerns. He worked as his elder brother's assistant for a short while and made his first debut with the script of "Binnaz" (1950) shot for Atlas Film Production Company. As many other filmmakers of the era who took the seventh art seriously, Erksan worked as a columnist in papers and film periodicals before engaging in active filmmaking. Metin Erksan's first film as a director that also heralded the unique and controversial place he would later occupy in the history of Turkish cinema was 'Asik Veysel' in "Hayati" (1952). Telling the dramatic life of the famous blind poet and song writer Asik Veysel, the film was later prohibited by the censure committe for showing the Turkish land as "infertile". With the advent of the social realist movement following the 1960 Coup d'Etat in Turkey, Erksan established himself as the "enfant prodige" of the post 60 era. Among the best films made during this period (including the Golden Bear Awarded Susuz Yaz (Dry Summer)) Erksan's work occupy a central place. His films are the fruits of an eclectic mixture of modernist themes (i.e. individual loneliness), metaphysics (the fight of good vs evil), and notions of Marxism. As other "engagé" directors of the era who did not only saw them as artists but also as "social engineers", Erksan played a major role in the foundation of the Union of Turkish Film Workers and the Association of Turkish Filmmakers. He was also Turkish Labour Party's candidate of Istanbul in the General Elections of 1965. But it is important to stress that Erksan's films are primarily praised for their aesthetic maturity which coexisted (until 1965) with a firm social commitment. Like other filmmakers who had to work within the narrow confines of the Turkish film industry, Erksan also shot commercial films to survive within the liberal minded Pine Tree (Yesilcam) system. After 1965, he gradually abandoned his social outlook and made either market oriented popular films or violent personal phantasies focusing on themes of loneliness and obsessive love. After shooting short films and serials for the Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) in the 70s, Erksan completely gave up filmmaking after 1983. He started to teach at Istanbul Mimar Sinan University and is still working there, mostly isolated from the current discussions on modern Turkish cinema.

Halit Refig, Turkish filmmaker, film critic and theoretician and an intellectual was born in Izmir, Turkey in 1934 to an industrial family. He attended Sisli Terakki High School and briefly attended Robert College Engineering Dept. During his military service he started making documentaries in Japan, Korea and Sri Lanka with a Super 8 camera. In 1957 he started the Turkish Film Review (Sinema Dergisi) with fellow film critic Nijat Ozon. Later he assisted director Atif Yilmaz in two films. In 1961 he directed his first feature, Yasak ask (1961). His approach to filmmaking was influenced by his friendship with the famous Turkish novelist Kemal Tahir. This collaboration gave fruit to Four Women in the Harem, which Refig scripted and later production of Yorgun Savasci (1979) in 1979, the most controversial film ever made in Turkish film history. Refig defended it and published a theory of national cinema, which he named Ulusal Sinema (national cinema). Later he revised his theory and called his work ATUT (Asiatic Mode of Production) cinema or Halk Sinemasi (Cinema of the People). Refig collected his articles on national cinema in a volume; Ulusal Sinema Kavgasi (Fight for a national Cinema). Refig and his fellow filmmakers like Metin Erksan and Lütfi Ö. Akad made nationalist films until late 1960s. In 1974, the newly established Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) commissioned Refig to make a literary adaptation of a Turkish novel of his choice. The result was _Ask-i memnu (1974) (TV)_ (Forbidden Love) which was hailed as the first Turkish TV mini series. In 1975 Refig joined fellow filmmakers to establish the Turkish Cinema and TV Institute. In 1977 he was invited to teach at University of Wisconsin where he made a Victorian period drama, Intercessors. In 1979 he was invited once again by the TRT to make Yorgun Savasci (Tired Warrior) Kemal Tahir's controversial novel. Described as the ultimate national cinema piece, the production and later on burning of the negatives by the military government in 1982 of Tired Warrior. The film was later aired in 1992 from a restored 1 inch tape. After this Refig made popular films for Turker Inanoglu. This gave Refig the opportunity to realize his smaller and more personal projects like Hanim (Madame). After nearly a decade Refig made Köpekler Adasi (1997) (Island of Dogs). The film received mixed reviews. As a filmmaker he made over 50 popular and personal films in Turkish film industry since 1961. As a film critic and theoretician he produced a significant body of film criticism and literally created a theory of national cinema, one that predates the theories of third cinema initiated in Latin American and African countries. Finally, as an intellectual he practiced what he preached. Refig focused on national and cultural identity in the young Turkish Republic, critiquing the westernization and nationalist ideologies in Turkey and favoring the traditional values and the Ottoman past. Refig deconstructed the Republican Kemalist ideology and the position of the Kemalist intellectual in Turkish society, discussed east-west and rural-urban tension in a rapidly changing social environment and the position of women in defining the new Turkish national identity. His work is also influenced by the psychoanalytical work of Freud and Jung's idea of collective consciousness. Refig likes applying a dialectical intellectual montage and German expressionist framing. Since 1975 Refig has taught at the Cinema and TV Institute of Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Pelin Yoru was born on 27 September 1982 in Istanbul, Turkey. She was an actress, known for Kizim Nerede (2010), Uygun Adim Ask (2009) and Alev Alev (2012). She died on 29 October 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Dilber Ay was born on 12 July 1958 in Kayseri, Turkey. She was an actress. She died on 1 January 1995 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkish film director, screenwriter, academician. Who directed movies from 1948 to 1990. In 1949, he debuted as a film director with Vurun Kahpeye ("Strike the Whore") an adaptation of Halide Edip Adivar's book of the same title. He became one of the pioneers of the period in the "Director Generation". His 1970s trilogy comprising The Bride, The Wedding and The Sacrifice, is considered his masterpiece. Afterwards, he withdrew from movie making instead directing adaptations for TV.

Akad was born on September 2, 1916. Following his secondary education at French Jeanne d'Arc School and Galatasaray High School, he studied finance at Istanbul Economy and Commerce Higher School. Beside his occupation as financial advisor at Sema Film company, he wrote articles on theatre and cinema. After directing more than 100 movies, Akad taught twenty years at the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts.

He died on 19 November 2011 at the age of 95 in Istanbul.

He was born and grew up in Istanbul. He started his career at Bakirkoy Community Center Theatre. Later he worked at Ankara State Theatre, Istanbul State Theatre and Istanbul City Theatre. He also worked in small play houses with today's famous actors and actresses. He made his place in the theatre stronger with the play Fareler ve Insanlar (Mice and Men). Although he was a known stage actor he became famous nationwide with his movies, after 1950's.

In 1970's, he took part in many Ertem Egilmez movies which contained other famous names of the time. In those movies he mostly played with actress Adile Nasit as a duo and they became a memorable couple in the minds of the audience. His most known role is Kel Mahmut (Mahmut the Bald), who is the idealist principal of a high school with troubled students in Hababam Sinifi; movie series. Kel Mahmut (a.k.a. Mahmut Hoca) tries to help those students and guide them to a better life.

Ozkul, secluded himself from public when the TV started to become popular. Yet, he appeared in some TV shows as a guest star or in small parts.

Turkish Ministry of Culture awarded him with the title State Artist, in 1998.

In his youth he had some problems with his drinking habit. After that he spent the most of his life fighting against alcohol and by the 1990s he quit drinking, completely.

Ozkul's been married for 4 times and he has 3 children from those marriages. His first wife was Sadan, the second one was a famous actress Suna Selen, the third one was Yasar and the fourth and current one is Umman Ozkul with whom he's been married for 27 years now. One of his children, Guner Ozkul, is an actress and a TV presenter.

He's been suffering from Dementia since the early 2000s and, as a result of this disease, he almost never leaves home.

He's been battling with dementia and COPD for almost two decades and on January 5th, 2018 he lost that battle. He died at his home in Istanbul, where he lived the rest of his days with his family, at the age of 93.

Neriman Köksal was born on 17 March 1928 in Istanbul, Turkey. She was an actress, known for Cevriyem (1978), Fosforlu Cevriye (1959) and Fosforlu'nun Oyunu: Kitipiyoza Tuzak (1959). She was married to Feridun Kete. She died on 22 October 1999 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Tarik Ünlüoglu was born on 9 August 1951 in Izmir, Turkey. He was an actor, known for The Valley of the Wolves (2003), For Love and Honor (2007) and Telling Tales (2015). He was married to Gülenay Kalkan. He died on 1 October 2019 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Gülsah Çomoglu Günal was born on 30 May 1986 in Ankara, Turkey. She was an actress, known for Behzat Ç: An Ankara Detective Story (2010), Umudun Kiyisinda (2017) and Kasaba Doktoru (2022). She was married to Gökhan Günal. She died on 29 May 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Raif Özkan Ugur (born October 17, 1953 in Istanbul) is a Turkish pop musician, member of the renowned band Mazhar-Fuat-Özkan and an actor.

He was born as the 5th child of his family. He graduated Resat Nuri Güntekin Primary School where he met and started playing mandolin. Afterwards, while he was studying in Fenerbahçe High School, he formed a band called Atomikler and covered popular songs of the time.

He started his career as a musician in the Serif Yüzbasioglu Orchestra as a bass guitarist. In 1971, Özkan joined Mazhar Alanson and Fuat Güner in the duo "Kaygisizlar" ("The Unworrieds") The band was dissolved in 1972. Between 1972 and 1975, Özkan played Anatolian rock music with Baris Manço in his band Kurtalan Ekspres, in "TER" of Erkin Koray, "Dostlar" of Edip Akbayram, "Kardaslar" of Seyhan Karabay and "Dadaslar" of Ersen. In 1976, he left Anatolian rock music genre and joined the quintet "Ipucu" led by the MFÖ trio. Özkan formed in 1978 the band "Grup Karma" with Galip Boransu and Cengiz Teoman. He is now playing in the group MFÖ (the three letters stand for the names of the three members: Mazhar Alanson, Fuat Güner, Özkan Ugur). While playing the bass guitar in MFÖ, he performs incredibly difficult vocals with his tenor timbre. He released "Aynada" ("In The Mirror" in Turkish) single from DMC in 2016.

He was also a judge in O Ses Türkiye (2011) (Turkish version of The Voice).

In first of his professional years, he tried to make a bass guitar. The bass guitar he is using is a Fender Jazz Bass which was given by Baris Manço. Also he had a fretless guitar which he makes the maintenance and repair himself every month. One of his interview he talk about value of his bass guitar : " I spent my life with it. I will never sell it even they give me billions of dollars."

Mine Mutlu was born on 28 November 1948 in Istanbul, Turkey. She was an actress, known for Yilmayan Seytan (1972), Berdus Kiz (1970) and Damarimda Kanimsin (1970). She was married to Ünal Çulha. She died on 21 September 1990 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Müslüm Gürses was born on 7 May 1953 in Sanliurfa, Turkey. He was an actor and composer, known for For My Son (2015), Love Likes Coincidences (2011) and Müslüm (2018). He was married to Muhterem Nur. He died on 3 March 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Reha Yurdakul was born on 1 April 1926 in Balikesir, Turkey. He was an actor and producer, known for Supermen Dönüyor (1979), Kanli sevda (1960) and Murada erecegiz (1958). He died on 27 December 1988 in Istanbul, Turkey.