Tuncel Tayanç Kurtiz (1 February 1936 – 27 September 2013) was a Turkish theatre, movie and TV series

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

. Since 1964, he acted in more than 70 movies, including many international productions.

Early years

He was born in , Kocaeli, a town in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. His father was a district governor (

kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by #Names, many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been reta ...

) and his mother is of

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

descent a teacher. His parents' occupation was the reason the family toured many places across the country. After graduating from the Haydarpaşa High School in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Kurtiz studied English

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

Career

He soon started a career as an actor playing theatres. Since 1958, Kurtiz performed on many stages in Istanbul, in state and private theatres. He was also on the stage at Gothenburg City Theatre, Stockholm Royal Theatre and Swedish Theatre in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, Schaubühne

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Frankfurt City Theatre and Hamburg City Theatre in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and at Peter Brook Shakespeare Royal Theatre in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Kurtiz directed plays for the German-Turkish theatre project "Türkisches Ensemble" in the late 1970s. During his university years and later the military service period, he became friends with the renowned film director Yılmaz Güney. They made a number of films together. Their 1970 film '' Umut'' was prohibited to leave Turkey, but was shown in

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

by a smuggled copy. His first film role was in ''Şeytanın Uşakları'', shot in 1964. Since then, Tuncel Kurtiz played also in many international productions like Swedish, German, Dutch,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, French,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n films and TV series, mostly in the original language.

Death

Tuncel Kurtiz died at the age of 77 on 27 September 2013 following a fall-inflicted

head trauma A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inj ...

in his residence in Etiler,

Filmography

* ' (''Happy Family Journal'') (2013) * ' (''Film Against All Odds'') (2010) * ''

Black and White Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

'' (') (2010) * ''

Pains of Autumn ''Pains of Autumn'' () is a 2009 Turkish drama film, directed by Tomris Giritlioğlu, based on the novel by Yılmaz Karakoyunlu. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on , was one of the highest-grossing Turkish films ...

'' (') (2009) * ' (2008) * '' The Edge of Heaven'' by

Fatih Akın Fatih Akin (, born 25 August 1973) is a Turkish-German film director, screenwriter and producer. His films have won numerous awards and accolades, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his film '' Head-On'' (2004), Best Scr ...

(2007 -

) * ' (''Esaretten Kaçış'') by Carlo Mazzacurati (2002 -

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) * ' (''The Waterfall'') by (2001) * ' by (1998) * ' by (1997 - Turkey/Germany/

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

) * ''Gräfin Sophia Hatun'' by Ayşe Polat (1997 - Germany) * ' by Ömer Kavur (1997) * ' by Hiner Saleem (1997 -

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) * '' Somersault in a Coffin'' by Derviş Zaim (1996) * ' by Konstantin Schmidt (1993 - Germany) * ' by Ottokar Runze (1990 - Germany) * ' by Anton Peschke (1990 - Germany) * ' by Suzanne Osten (1990 -

) * '' Täcknamn Coq Rouge'' by (1989 - Sweden) * '' The Mahabharata'' by

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

(1989 -

) * ' by Suzanne Osten (1989 - Sweden) * ' by Hartmut Horst and (1987 - Germany) * ' by (1986 - Sweden) * ' by Shimon Dotan (1986 -

) * ' by Otakar Votocek (1984 -

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

) * ' by Mats Arehn (1983 - Sweden) * ' (''The Wall'') by Yılmaz Güney (1983) * ' by and (1981 - West Germany) * '' On Fertile Lands'' by Erden Kıral (1980) * '' Kanal'' by Erden Kıral (1978) * ' (''The Herd'') by

Zeki Ökten Zeki Ökten (4 August 1941 – 19 December 2009) was a Turkish film director. Biography He was born on 4 August 1941 in Istanbul. Zeki Ökten was interested in theatre during his education at the Haydarpaşa High School. He entered his filmm ...

(1978) * ' by

Şerif Gören Şerif Gören (, 1 July 1944 – 8 December 2024) was a Turkish film director. Aside from important films under his own signature, he was also the winner of the Palme d'Or ("Golden Palm") award in Cannes Film Festival in 1982 for the film '' Yol ...

and Yılmaz Güney (1970) * Karaoğlan Camoka'nın Intikami (Karaoğlan Camoka's Revenge) (1966) * Hıçkırık (1965) * ' by İlhan Engin (1964)

TV series

* '' Muhteşem Yüzyıl'' (2012–2013) * '' Ezel'' (2009–2011) * '' Asi'' (2007–2009) * '' Kara Duvak'' (2007) * '' Hacı'' (2006) * ''" Vägen till Gyllenblå!"'' (1985 -

) * ''Die Abschiebung'' by (1985 -

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

) * '' Tatort - '' (1975 -

) *

Directed movie

* ''Lyckliga vi...'' (1980 - Turkey/Sweden)

Awards

* "Best Screenplay" at 1981

Antalya Film Festival The Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (), known for a few years from 2015 as Antalya International Film Festival, is a film festival, held annually since 1963 in Antalya, and is the second most important film festival in Turkey. Since 2009, t ...

for his script '' Gül Hasan'' * " Best Actor" at the

36th Berlin International Film Festival The 36th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held 14–25 February 1986. The festival opened with '' Ginger and Fred'' by Federico Fellini, which played out of competition at the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to West German ...

for his role in the

film '' Hiuch HaGdi'' * "Best Supporting Actor" at 1994 Antalya Film Festival for his role in '' Bir Aşk Uğruna'' * "Best Actor" at 7th Sadri Alışık Awards for his role in ''Şellale'' * "Best Supporting Actor" at 2007 Antalya Film Festival for his role in '' Yaşamın Kıyısında''

References

External links

Zeytin Publishing - ''Interview with Tuncel Kurtiz''
* Biyografi.net
''Biography of Tuncel Kurtiz''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurtiz, Tuncel 1936 births People from İzmit Turkish people of Bosniak descent Istanbul University alumni Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Turkish male film actors Turkish male stage actors Turkish film directors Turkish male screenwriters Best Screenplay Golden Orange Award winners Best Supporting Actor Golden Orange Award winners Best Supporting Actor Golden Boll Award winners 2013 deaths Haydarpaşa High School alumni Golden Orange Life Achievement Award winners Silver Bear for Best Actor winners Turkish philologists 20th-century Turkish male actors 21st-century Turkish male actors Turkish dramatists and playwrights Turkish film producers Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Turkey Neurological disease deaths in Turkey Deaths from head injury 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Turkish socialists