Türkan Şoray (born 28 June 1945) is a
Turkish actress, writer and film director.
She is known as "
Sultan
Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
" of the
Cinema of Turkey
Cinema of Turkey or Turkish cinema (also formerly known as ''Yeşilçam'', which literally means ''Green Pine'' in Turkish language, Turkish), () or Türk sineması refers to the Turkish film industry, film art and industry. It is an importa ...
.
She started her career in 1960, and won her first award as the most successful actress at the
1st Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival for the movie ''
Acı Hayat''.
Having appeared in more than 222 films, Şoray has starred in the most feature films for a female actress worldwide. On 12 March 2010, Şoray was chosen as a
UNICEF
UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
goodwill ambassador in Turkey, about which she said: "I think there is nothing that cannot be done with love. If we combine power with love, we can overcome many problems".
Together with
Hülya Koçyiğit
Hülya Koçyiğit (born 12 December 1947) is a Turkish actress. A prominent female lead in the Turkish cinema, she received numerous awards at international film festivals, including the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. Altogether, she ha ...
,
Filiz Akın and
Fatma Girik
Fatma Girik (12 December 1942 – 24 January 2022) was a Turkish actress and politician. Together with Hülya Koçyiğit, Filiz Akın and Türkan Şoray, she was an icon for the golden age in Turkish cinematography and is regarded as one of the ...
, she is an icon for a golden age in Turkish cinematography and is regarded as one of the four most important actresses in Turkish cinema. Out of these actresses, Şoray is the only one who also pursued a career in film directing, and directed the movies ''Dönüş'' (1972), ''Azap'' (1973), ''Bodrum Hâkimi'' (1976), ''Yılanı Öldürseler'' (1981), and ''Uzaklarda Arama'' (2015).
With
Kadir İnanır
Kadir İnanır (born 15 April 1949) is a Turkish people, Turkish film actor and Film director, director.
Biography
İnanır was born on 15 April 1949 in Fatsa, a town in Ordu Province, Ordu province of Turkey. In the Turkish movie industry (Ye� ...
, she played in Kara Gözlüm, Unutulan Kadın, Dönüş, Gazi Kadın: Nene Hatun, Devlerin Aşkı, Bodrum Hakimi, Deprem, Dila Hanım, Cevriyem, Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım, Aşk ve Nefret, Gönderilmemiş Mektuplar.
Early life
Şoray was born in
Eyüp, Istanbul, as the first child of a family of government officials. Her father was of
Circassian descent, while her maternal grandfather was a
Turkish immigrant from
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
.
Her sister is singer and actress
Nazan Şoray
Nazan Şoray (born 5 January 1954) is a Turkish singer and actress.
Life and career
Şoray was born in Istanbul as the daughter of Halit Şoray, a civil servant in state railways, and Meliha Şoray, a housewife, who divorced when she was 5 year ...
.
While she was studying at Fatih Girls High School as a daughter of one of the landowners in
Karagümrük, she visits a set with actor Emel Yıldız who had starred in ''Panter Emel'', and there with the encouragement of
Türker İnanoğlu she decides to pursue a career in cinema. Türkân Şoray recounts her memory of starting her cinema career:
Career
While studying at
Fatih Kız Lisesi
Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...
middle school, the homeowner’s daughter of their house in Karagümrük later known as “Panter Emel” and Türkân Şoray went to the same film set. With incentive from Türker İnanoğlu, she made her first steps into
Yeşilçam
Cinema of Turkey or Turkish cinema (also formerly known as ''Yeşilçam'', which literally means ''Green Pine'' in Turkish), () or Türk sineması refers to the Turkish film art and industry. It is an important part of Turkish culture, an ...
. Instead of Emel Yıldız marking the beginning of Türkan Şoray’s career the 1960s “Köyde Bir Kız Sevdim” co-starred with Baki Tamer. Türkân Şoray recounts the memories of her introduction to cinema as such:
”Before entering cinema a film set arrived to our neighborhood. They were going to film a set of the movie in our neighborhood. When I saw the leading role actress I thought to myself ‘what a beautiful woman’. That woman was
Muhterem Nur. As I was looking dumbfounded a man approached me and asked ‘Do you want to act in the movies too?’. I was scared and ran home immediately. I learned later on that, that man was
Memduh Ün. Back then I ran from a movie set but later on movie sets became my life” recounts Türkân Şoray.
Şoray earned her first
Golden Orange award in 1964 for her role as Nermin opposite
Ekrem Bora in the movie ''
Acı Hayat'' which was directed by
Metin Erksan. In 1968, Şoray received her second Golden Orange award for her work in the movie ''
Vesikalı Yarim'', written by Safa Önal and based on
Sait Faik Abasıyanık
Sait Faik Abasıyanık (18 November 1906 – 11 May 1954) was one of the greatest Turkish people, Turkish writers of short stories and poetry and considered an important literary figure of the 1940s. He created a brand new style in Turkish lit ...
's "
Menekşeli Vadi".
At the
Istanbul Film Festival, where the renewed copy of the film was republished many years later, Şoray said:
Later career
She went on working with respectable directors in later years. One of them was
Atıf Yılmaz
Atıf Yılmaz Batıbeki (9 December 1925 – 5 May 2006) was a renowned Turkish film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He was very much a legend in the film industry of Turkey with 119 movies directed. He also wrote screenplays for ...
, with whom she would work in both dramas and comedies. In the 1970s she also acted in films with a more realistic theme. She also directed four films in those years. Her most applauded films in the 1970s included ''Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım'', ''Hazal'', ''Sultan'', ''Dönüş'' and ''Baraj''. In those films she was mostly accompanied by the famous Turkish actor
Kadir İnanır
Kadir İnanır (born 15 April 1949) is a Turkish people, Turkish film actor and Film director, director.
Biography
İnanır was born on 15 April 1949 in Fatsa, a town in Ordu Province, Ordu province of Turkey. In the Turkish movie industry (Ye� ...
.
Awards
She won her first of many awards when she received the best actress prize at the '
Antalya Golden Orange 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 the film ''Acı Hayat'' (Bitter Life).
At the end of the 1960s, she was named one of the four greatest actresses of the Turkish cinema. She was highly applauded for her choices in film and her ability to act in a wide variety of roles. She starred in ''Vesikalı Yarim'' (My Licensed Love) for which she was awarded the Best Actress Award for the second time in the Antalya Film Festival.
In the 1980s she began portraying women with problems of female identity; ''Mine'', ''Rumuz Goncagül'' (Nickname: Goncagül), ''On Kadın'' (Ten Women) etc. She won her third Best Actress Award from the Antalya Film Festival in 1987 with the film ''Hayallerim, Aşkım ve Sen''(My Dreams, My Love and You), in which she portrays three different women, each of whom is a facet of Türkân Şoray herself.
Some of her awards are:
* Antalya Film Festival Best Actress Award
** 1964-''Acı Hayat''
** 1968-''Vesikalı Yarim''
** 1987-''Hayallerim, Aşkım ve Sen''
** 1994-''Bir Aşk Uğruna''
* Moscow Film Festival Grand Jury Prize
** 1973-''Dönüş'' (her directorial debut)
* Tashkent Film Festival Best Actress Award
** 1978-''Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım''
* Bastia Film Festival Best Actress Award
** 1992-''Soğuktu ve Yağmur Çiseliyordu''
*1996
Istanbul Film Festival, Honorary Cinema Award
*1999 Rome Film Festival, Honorary Award
She is also a member of Eurasian Academy.
Filmography
As an actress
As a director
* ''Dönüş'' – 1972
* ''Azap'' – 1973
* ''Bodrum Hakimi'' – 1976
* ''Yılanı Öldürseler'' – 1981 (with
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 ...
)
* ''Uzaklarda Arama'' – 2015
Music albums
*''Türkan Şoray Söylüyor'' (2015)
Books
* "Sinemam ve Ben" (autobiography), Türkan Şoray, NTV Yayınları, 2012, İstanbul.
Books about her
* "Türkân Şoray, Bir Yıldız Böyle Doğdu" (documentary novel), Agah Özgüç, Göl publications, 1974, Istanbul.
* "Sümbül Sokağın Tutsak Kadını" (biography), Atilla Dorsay, Remzi Bookstore, 1997, Istanbul.
* "Türkân Şoray''" (biography), Agah Özgüç, Açıkşehir publications, 2001, Istanbul.
* "Türkân Şoray ile Yüz Yüze", Feridun Andaç, Drahma publications, 2010, Istanbul.
* "50 Yıllık Aşk - Türkan Şoray", Ercan Akarsu, Esen Books, 2014, Istanbul.
* "Sinema Emekçisi - Türkan Şoray", Ercan Akarsu, Esen Books, 2015, Istanbul.
See also
*
Nazan Şoray
Nazan Şoray (born 5 January 1954) is a Turkish singer and actress.
Life and career
Şoray was born in Istanbul as the daughter of Halit Şoray, a civil servant in state railways, and Meliha Şoray, a housewife, who divorced when she was 5 year ...
*
Nazan Saatci
Nazan Saatci (born June 22, 1958) is a Turkish actress. She is known for her performances in ''Tokatçi'' (1983), ''Ölümsüz'' (1982), and ''Hulchal'' (1985). She was the second runner-up in Miss Asia Pacific beauty pageant in 1983.
Early ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soray, Turkan
1945 births
Living people
People from Eyüp
Turkish people of Circassian descent
State Artists of Turkey
Turkish film actresses
Turkish film directors
Turkish women film directors
Best Actress Golden Orange Award winners
Best Actress Golden Boll Award winners
Golden Orange Life Achievement Award winners
Golden Butterfly Award winners
20th-century Turkish actresses