Haluk Bilginer

Turkish actor

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|

Haluk Bilginer

Bilginer in 2022

Born|  (1954-06-05) 5 June 1954 (age 70)

İzmir, Turkey

Nationality| Turkish
Alma mater| London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation| Actor
Years active| 1978–present
Spouse(s)|

Zuhal Olcay

(m. 1992; div. 2004)​

[1]

Aşkın Nur Yengi

(m. 2006; div. 2012)​

Children| 1

Nihat Haluk Bilginer (Turkish pronunciation: [haˈluk bilɟiˈneɾ]; born 5 June 1954) is a Turkish actor. For his role in Şahsiyet (2018), Bilginer won the Best Actor award at the 47th International Emmy Awards. His film Kış Uykusu won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.[2] In addition to his acting career in Turkey, he has also worked in the United Kingdom and remains best known for his role as Mehmet Osman in the television soap opera EastEnders during the 1980s. He has also starred in Hollywood movies as a character actor. He often plays villains and unsympathetic characters.

## Life and career

[edit]

Bilginer was born in İzmir, Turkey. He graduated from the Ankara State Conservatory in 1977 before going to England where he graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He landed his first role in the long running UK soap opera EastEnders.[3]

### EastEnders (1985–1989)

[edit]

Bilginer made his first appearance in EastEnders as Mehmet Osman on-screen in June 1985, four months after the show originally aired. His arrival coincides with a cot death storyline of Sue and Ali's baby, Hassan. Mehmet appears as a recurring character from 1985 to 1987, setting up a cab firm named Ozcabs from inside Ali's café; however, he becomes a regular in 1988, when both he and his wife Guizin (Ishia Bennison) are made partners in Ali's café, which is renamed Café Osman.

Described as "the Terrible Turk", Haluk Bilginer was one of the more popular male cast members on EastEnders during the 1980s, and he reportedly received sackfuls of fan mail, "despite playing a villain and a womanising snake". Hilary Kingsley has said that what made the character so popular was Bilginer's Omar Sharif-style good looks and charm. Following the departure of Holland and Smith, Mehmet was eventually written out of the serial in May 1989, in a storyline that signified the disbandment of the Osman family. On-screen, Mehmet returns to his native Cyprus after a fight with Guizin regarding her suspicions about Mehmet's fabricated affair with Sue. The Osman family were among many characters to leave the serial that year. Writer Colin Brake has commented, "the pace of comings and going was fast and furious during 1989, as the programme tried to find a new direction." Bilginer went into musical theatre after leaving EastEnders starring in Ken Hill's popular musical adaptation of the Guy de Maupassant novel The Wicked World of Bel-Ami at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, working with Fiona Hendley, Toni Palmer, Peter Straker and Colin Atkins.

### After EastEnders

[edit]

Haluk Bilginer in 2005

During the course of the show, he came to Turkey to star in the 1987 mini series Gecenin Öteki Yüzü based from novel and mini history series Ateşten Günler based from novel, where he met his eventual first wife Zuhal Olcay, famous Turkish actress and singer. After dividing his time in London and Istanbul for six years, he left the show to stay in Turkey permanently and married Olcay in 1992.

He guest starred in an episode of Young Indiana Jones as İsmet İnönü, and went on to star in the Yavuz Özkan film "İki Kadın". He then starred in various movies including İstanbul Kanatlarımın Altında and the famous Usta Beni Öldürsene. After critical acclaim for these roles, he earned his first award as a supporting actor in Masumiyet. He played in series "Gülşen Abi". After deciding he wants to pursue career on stage, he founded "Tiyatro Stüdyosu" (Theatre Studio) with his wife Zuhal Olcay and Ahmet Levendoğlu in 1990. After starring in various plays for six years, he had to return to screen in 1996 because of a fire that destroyed the theater. He and his wife starred in television and movies to raise money to found another theater.

### Eyvah Babam and Tatlı Hayat

[edit]

During this era, he starred in Eyvah Kızım Büyüdü, starting his second era in television. After years of work, he and his wife managed to start a second theater, called "Oyun Atölyesi" (Play Workshop).

In 2001, His most famous role however came after he started his second theater. He landed a role in Tatlı Hayat, a remake of The Jeffersons. He played the role of İhsan Yıldırım, an angry and foul-mouthed, yet lovable dry cleaner. He was accompanied by legendary actress Türkan Şoray who has starred in the most feature films for a female actress worldwide with 222 films to her name in the Guinness Book of Records,[4] Asuman Dabak playing the witty cleaner, Neco playing the Greek neighbor (The enmity between Greeks and Turks were put instead of the Black-White one in the original) and Çolpan İlhan playing Neco's wife. He and the show's breakthrough character İrfan (played by Celal Kadri Kınoğlu) are regarded as the best characters in Turkish TV history. He divorced Zuhal Olcay in 2004 and began a relationship with Aşkın Nur Yengi, a famous Turkish singer. They married in 2006 and had a daughter.

After Tatlı Hayat, he starred in films Neredesin Firuze, "Hırsız Var", "Hacivat Karagöz Neden Öldürüldü?", "7 Kocalı Hürmüz" and "Güneşin Oğlu". His most recent role in film Polis however, is his most critically acclaimed role after Tatlı Hayat. His portrayal of the troubled police legend Musa Rami has gained critical acclaim from both critics and viewers, who thought the movie was too experimental. Bilginer, however, has said that he will work in all of Onur Ünlü's (screenwriter and director of Polis) movies, even as an extra if required.

Bilginer played the role of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in an İş Bank commercial, which first aired on 10 November 2007 during the 69th commemorations of Atatürk's death.

He played in rom-com series "Sevgili Dünürüm" alongside Nevra Serezli, Sumru Yavrucuk, Engin Altan Düzyatan, Rojda Demirer, Didem Balçın, Cengiz Bozkurt.[5]

Bilginer co-starred in the 2009 American thriller The International as Ahmet Sunay, a Turkish high-tech missile guidance system dealer. He was accompanied by Clive Owen and Naomi Watts in this movie.

### After Ezel

[edit]

He joined in second season of hit series Ezel. With Ezel's co-star Cansu Dere, he starred in the series Şahsiyet, playing a retired court clerk who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The later role won him an International Emmy Award for Best Actor. He worked again with same director & screenwriter duo Onur Saylak & Hakan Günday in Netflix series "Uysallar".

Bilginer played an actor who acts woman in series Hayatımın Rolü adaptation of Mrs. Doubtfire. He plays Aydın in Kış Uykusu, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014. With Ali Atay, he works including series "Masum", "Şeref Bey" for many times. He appeared in Netflix series "Sıcak Kafa" based from sci-fi novel.

In 2016, he appeared in "Ben-Hur". In 2018, Bilginer played Dr. Ranbir Sartain, the new psychiatrist of Michael Myers, in the slasher sequel Halloween. In 2020, he played the lead villain Dr Greif in the first season of the hit Prime Video series Alex Rider, based on the bestselling novels by Anthony Horowitz.[6] In 2023, Bilginer stared as Barbara Nadel's fictional Istanbul detective Çetin İkmen in the Paramount+ series The Turkish Detective.[7]

## Personal life

[edit]

In 1987, Bilginer traveled to İstanbul to film the TV series Gecenin Öteki Yüzü (The Other Side of the Night), where he met actress/singer Zuhal Olcay; they married in 1992 and divorced in 2004. He married singer Aşkın Nur Yengi in 2006 and has a daughter from this marriage; they divorced in 2012.

## International Filmography

[edit]

### Films

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | class="unsortable"

|
|
|

1986  | Half Moon Street | First Arab  | British-American production
1987  | Ishtar | Guerrilla leader  | American production
Lionheart | Merchant  | Hungarian-American production
1997  | Sawdust Tales | Aaron  |
1999  | Harem Suare |  |
2001  | Buffalo Soldiers | The Turk  | American production
2003  | Hittites | King III. Hattuþili  | Türkiye production docudrama film
2004  | She's Gone | Inspector Yilmaz  | British production
2009  | The Watercolor |  | Türkiye production
2009  | The International | Ahmet Sunay  | American-German production
2011  | W.E. | Mohamed Al-Fayed | British-American production
2012  | The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Nazmi Kemal  | American-Indian-Qatari production
2014  | Rosewater | Baba Akbar  | American production
2016  | Ben-Hur | Simonides  | American production
2017  | Forget About Nick | Nick  | German production
2017  | The Ottoman Lieutenant | Halil Bey  | Turkish-American production
2017  | Trendy | Hasan  |
2017  | Shelter | Ahmet  |
2018  | Halloween | Dr. Ranbir Sartain  | American production
2024  | Maria | Aristotle Onassis | American-Italian-German production

### Series

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1984  | The Glory Boys | Arab Driver  | British production
1985–89  | EastEnders | Mehmet Osman | British production
1985  | The Murder of a Moderate Man | Sasan  |
1985  | Bergerac | Ahmet  | Episode: "Avenge O Lord", British production
1991  | Memories of Midnight | Dino Mattusi  | TV mini series
1992  | Jackanory | Storyteller  |
1993  | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | Colonel Ismet Bey  | Episode "Palestine, October 1917", American production
1999  | The Bill | Guest Star/Olly  | Episode "The Three Sergeants", British production
2004  | Spooks | Emre Celenk  | Episode "Persephone",[8] British production
2016  | New Blood | John Malik  | 2 episodes, British production
2020  | Alex Rider | Dr Greif  | Main role, British production
2024  | The Veil | Mr Demir  |
2024  | The Turkish Detective | Çetin İkmen  | Leading role, Turkish-British co-production

## Turkish Filmography

[edit]

### Web Series

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

2017  | Masum | Cevdet  | Leading role
2018  | Şahsiyet | Agâh Beyoglu  | Winner – Best Performance by an Actor at the 47th International Emmy Awards
2021  | Şeref Bey | Şeref  | Leading role
2022  | Uysallar | Berhudar  | Leading role
2022  | Sıcak Kafa | Haluk  | Leading role

### TV Series

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1987  | Gecenin Öteki Yüzü | Ali  | mini series
1987  | Ateşten Günler | Ahmet Rıfkı  | mini series
1991  | Safiye'dir Kızın Adı |  |
1992  | Borsa | Reha Çalık  |
1993  | Son Söz Sevginin | Tahsin  |
1994-1996  | Gülşen Abi | Abidin Özbidin  |
1997  | Medeni Haller |  |
1998-2000  | Eyvah Babam | Sedat  |
2000-2001  | Eyvah Kızım Büyüdü | Sequel series
2001  | Cesur Kuşku |  |
2001  | Karanlıkta Koşanlar | Ali  | mini series
2001  | Dadı | Himself/Guest  | a remake of The Nanny
2001-2004  | Tatlı Hayat | Ihsan Yıldırım  | a remake of The Jeffersons
2002  | Ti Show | Robot Memduh  |
2004–2005  | Sayın Bakanım | Samim Bayraktar  | a remake of British TV series Yes Minister
2005  | Yine de Aşığım | Ali  |
2007-2008  | Sevgili Dünürüm | Ahmet  |
2008  | Nerede Kalmıştık | Ateş  |
2009  | Sıkı Dostlar | Hikmet  | a remake of The Odd Couple
2010  | Cuma'ya Kalsa | Cuma  |
2010  | Üvey İkizler |  |
2010–2011  | Ezel | Kenan Birkan  |
2011  | İstanbul'un Altınları | Reşat Altın  |
2012  | Acayip Hikayeler | Sinan  |
2012  | Hayatımın Rolü | Müşfik/Nanny  | a remake of Mrs. Doubtfire
2014  | Kaçak | Ustura Faysal  |
2017  | Kara Yazı | Oğuz  |
2022  | Baba | Emin Saruhanlı  | Leading role

### Films

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1990  | Ölürayak | Ömer  |
1991  | Kara Sevdalı Bulut | Atila  |
1992  | İki Kadın | Metin  |
1996  | İstanbul Kanatlarımın Altında | Evliya Celebi  |
1996  | 80.Adım | Savcı  |
1997  | Nihavend Mucize | Erol  |
1997  | Masumiyet | Bekir  | Best Supporting Actor – won Golden Orange at International Antalya Film Festival
Won Jean Carment Award at Angers European First Film Festival

1999  | Güle Güle |  |
2000  | Fasulye | The imaginary old man  |
2001  | Filler ve Çimenler |  |
2004  | Neredesin Firuze | Hayri  |
2005  | Hırsız Var |  |
2006  | Kısık Ateşte 15 Dakika | Muhtar  |
2006  | Polis | Musa Rami
2006  | Hacivat Karagöz Neden Öldürüldü? |  |
2008  | Devrim Arabaları |  |
2008  | Güneşin Oğlu |  |
2009  | 7 Kocalı Hürmüz | Cebrail  |
2010  | New York'ta Beş Minare | Hacı  |
2012  | Çanakkale Çocukları | Kasım  |
2014  | Kış Uykusu | Aydın  | Best Actor – won FIPRESCI Prize at Palm Springs International Film Festival
the film won the Palme d'Or and the FIPRESCI Prize
2017  | Geceyarısı, Türkiye Zamanı | The President  |
2017  | Kırık Kalpler Bankası | Yusuf Yağmur  |
2017  | Cingöz Recai: Bir Efsanenin Dönüşü | Mehmet Rıza  |
2019  | Nuh Tepesi | İbrahim  |
2020  | 9 Kere Leyla | Adem  |
2021  | Azizler | Erbil  |

## Awards

[edit]

* 47th International Emmy Awards, (2019)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Beyoğlu'nda pişti gecesi!". sabah.com.tr. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
2. ^ "Altın Palmiye, Nuri Bilge Ceylan'ın 'Kış Uykusu'na". BBC News Türkçe (in Turkish). 24 May 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
3. ^ "Merak edilen o görüntüler". Vatan. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
4. ^ "Türkan Şoray and Kadir İnanır will be the 'Face of Our Cinema' at Altın Koza". RayHaber. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
5. ^ "En İyi Haluk Bilginer Dizileri - Yeni ve Eski en Çok İzlenen Haluk Bilginer Dizileri Listesi ve Önerisi".
6. ^ "Haluk Bilginer kimdir, nereli, kaç yaşında? Haluk Bilginer sağlık durumu nasıl? Hangi film ve dizilerde oynadı?". 15 March 2023.
7. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (13 April 2022). "'The Turkish Detective' From Niels Arden Oplev & Miramax TV Gets Paramount+ Series Order, Sets Cast". Deadline. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
8. ^ "Cast An Order of Appearance". BBC. Retrieved 9 December 2013.

## External links

[edit]

* Haluk Bilginer at IMDb
* Biography of Haluk Bilginer \- Biyografi.info
* Filmography of Haluk Bilginer \- Sinematurk.com

Awards for Haluk Bilginer

* v
* t
* e

International Emmy Award for Best Performance by an Actor

* Thierry Frémont (2005)
* Ray Winstone (2006)
* Pierre Bokma / Jim Broadbent (2007)
* David Suchet (2008)
* Ben Whishaw (2009)
* Bob Hoskins (2010)
* Christopher Eccleston (2011)
* Darío Grandinetti (2012)
* Sean Bean (2013)
* Stephen Dillane (2014)
* Maarten Heijmans (2015)
* Dustin Hoffman (2016)
* Kenneth Branagh (2017)
* Lars Mikkelsen (2018)
* Haluk Bilginer (2019)
* Billy Barratt (2020)
* David Tennant (2021)
* Dougray Scott (2022)
* Martin Freeman (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Golden Boll Award for Best Actor

* Yılmaz Güney (1969)
* Yılmaz Güney (1970)
* Yılmaz Güney (1971)
* Kadir İnanır (1972)
* Cüneyt Arkın (1973)
* Tarık Akan (1992)
* Menderes Samancılar (1993)
* Mehmet Aslantuğ (1994)
* Halil Ergün (1995)
* Halil Ergün (1996)
* Haluk Bilginer (1997)
* Kenan İmirzalıoğlu-Olgun Şimşek (2005)
* Turan Özdemir (2006)
* Cezmi Baskın (2007)
* Teoman Kumbaracıbaşı - Murat Öncül - Ali Çelik - Murat Makçı - Murat Kılıç - Ruhi Sarı - Mustafa Kırantepe
* Hasan Şahintürk - Barış Yıldız - Emin Gürsoy - İnan Temelkuran - Güven İnce - Kadir Çermik - Ali Rıza Kubilay
* Öner Erkan - A. Mümtaz Taylan - İnan Ulaş Torun - Aykut Kayacık (2008)
* Nadir Sarıcabak (2009)
* Tansu Biçer (2010)
* Durukan Ordu (2011)
* İlyas Salman - Engin Günaydın (2012)
* Ercan Kesal (2013)
* Tansu Biçer - Ahmet Rıfat Şungar (2014)
* Nadir Sarıbacak (2015)
* Menderes Samancılar (2016)
* Fatih Artman (2017)

* v
* t
* e

Golden Butterfly Award for Best Actor

1991–2000|

* Erdal Özyağcılar (1992)
* Mehmet Aslantuğ (1993)
* Erdal Özyağcılar (1994)
* Şevket Altuğ (1995)
* Şevket Altuğ (1996)
* Mehmet Aslantuğ (1997)
* Mehmet Aslantuğ (1998)
* Kadir İnanır (1999)
* Memet Ali Alabora (2000)

2001–2010|

* Haluk Bilginer (2001)
* Tamer Karadağlı (2002)
* Mehmet Aslantuğ (2004)
* Özcan Deniz (2005)
* Timuçin Esen (2006)
* Halit Ergenç (2007)
* Halil Ergün (2008)
* Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ (2009)
* Kenan İmirzalıoğlu (2010)

2011–2020|

* Erkan Petekkaya (2011)
* Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ (2012)
* Kenan İmirzalıoğlu (2013)
* Halit Ergenç (2014)
* Çağatay Ulusoy (2015)
* İlker Kaleli (2016)
* Tolga Sarıtaş (2017)
* Aras Bulut İynemli (2018)
* Taner Ölmez (2019)

2021–present|

* Çağlar Ertuğrul (2021)
* Kaan Urgancıoğlu (2022)
* Salih Bademci (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Golden Orange Award for Best Supporting Actor

* Ulvi Uraz (1964)
* Müşfik Kenter (1966)
* Erol Günaydın (1967)
* Erol Taş (1968)
* Ferit Şevki (1969)
* Hayati Hamzaoğlu (1970)
* Sadri Alışık (1971)
* Süleyman Turan (1972)
* Yıldırım Önal (1973)
* Orçun Sonat (1974)
* Erol Taş (1975)
* İhsan Yüce (1976)
* Hüseyin Peyda (1977)
* Şener Şen (1978)
* Tuncel Kurtiz (1980)
* Yaman Okay (1981)
* Orhan Çağman (1982)
* Talat Bulut (1983)
* Macit Koper (1984)
* Engin İnal (1985)
* Erdal Özyağcılar (1986)
* Uğur Yücel (1987)
* Tanju Gürsu (1988)
* Menderes Samancılar (1989)
* Tuncer Necmioğlu (1990)
* Hayati Hamzaoğlu (1991)
* Tuncer Necmioğlu (1992)
* Fikret Hakan (1993)
* Tuncel Kurtiz / Oktay Kaynarca (1994)
* Mustafa Avkıran (1995)
* Cengiz Sezici (1996)
* Haluk Bilginer (1997)
* Mustafa Uğurlu (1998)
* Ercan Yazgan (1999)
* Şükran Güngör / Eşref Kolçak (2000)
* İsmail Hakkı Şen (2001)
* Oktay Kaynarca / Mehmet Emin Toprak (2002)
* Aytaç Arman / Çetin Öner (2003)
* Bahri Beyat (2004)
* Timuçin Esen (2005)
* Civan Canova (2006)
* Tuncel Kurtiz (2007
* Volga Sorgu Tekinoğlu (2008)
* Volga Sorgu Tekinoğlu (2009)
* Cengiz Bozkurt / Rıza Akın (2010)
* Erkan Avcı (2011)
* Tansu Biçer (2012)
* Ahmet Özarslan (2013)
* Aziz Çapkurt (2014)
* Kaan Çakır (2015)
* Haji Gul Aser (2016)
* Ozan Dağara / Hakan Emre Ünal (2019)
* Emrah Özdemir (2020)
* Erdem Şenocak (2021)

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