The Most Famous

ACTORS from Türkiye

This page contains a list of the greatest Turkish Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 103 of which were born in Türkiye. This makes Türkiye the birth place of the 16th most number of Actors behind China, and Sweden.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Turkish Actors of all time. This list of famous Turkish Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Turkish Actors.

1. Nebahat Çehre (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 69.28, Nebahat Çehre is the most famous Turkish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages on wikipedia.

Hilal Nebahat Çehre (Turkish pronunciation: [nebaˌhat tʃehˈɾe]; born 15 March 1943) is a Turkish actress, model, singer and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Turkey 1960. She is best known for her protagonist roles as Firdevs Yöreoğlu on the Kanal D drama series Aşk-ı Memnu (2008–10) and as Hafsa Sultan on the series Muhteşem Yüzyıl (2011–12). As the Miss Turkey, Çehre represented Turkey in the Miss World 1960 pageant held in London, United Kingdom. She also represented Turkey in the Miss Universe 1965 beauty pageant which took place on 24 July 1965 at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, United States.

2. Türkan Şoray (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 65.83, Türkan Şoray is the 2nd most famous Turkish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Türkan Şoray (Adyghe: Щорае Туркан; born 28 June 1945) is a Turkish actress, writer and film director. She is known as "Sultan" of the Cinema of Turkey. 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 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, Filiz Akın and Fatma Girik, 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, 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.

3. Cüneyt Arkın (1937 - 2022)

With an HPI of 65.55, Cüneyt Arkın is the 3rd most famous Turkish Actor. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Fahrettin Cüreklibatır (7 September 1937 – 28 June 2022), better known by his stage name Cüneyt Arkın, was a Turkish film actor, director, producer and physician. Having starred in somewhere around 300 movies and TV series, he is widely considered one of the most prominent Turkish actors of all time. Arkın's films have ranged from well-received dramas to mockbusters throughout his career spanning four decades. With Fatma Girik, he played in Sevişmek Yasak, Kolsuz Kahraman, Köroğlu, Vatan ve Namık Kemal, Büyük Yemin, Satın Alınan Koca, Murat ile Nazlı, Gönülden yaralılar, Önce Vatan, Gelincik. Early in his career, Arkın became known for starring in historical dramas taking place during the first centuries of the Ottoman Empire and Anatolian Seljuks, such as Malkoçoğlu 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 Aydın Jöntürk. Arkın and Jöntürk continued their collaboration on many other films. Cüneyt Arkın and Fatma Girik are one of the most famous partnerships of Yeşilçam Turkish cinema. In the 1980s, Arkın became known abroad for the film Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (The Man Who Saves The World, also known as Turkish Star Wars), a low-budget science fantasy martial arts film, tentatively famous for featuring bootlegged scenes from Star Wars. Today, the B movie has a cult following.

4. Halit Ergenç (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 65.22, Halit Ergenç is the 4th most famous Turkish Actor. His biography has been translated into 41 different languages.

Halit Ahmet Ergenç (Turkish pronunciation: [haˈlit æɾˈɟentʃ]; born 30 April 1970) is a Turkish actor known for his role as Sultan Suleiman I in Muhteşem Yüzyıl, Onur Aksal in Binbir Gece and Cevdet in Vatanim Sensin.

5. Tchéky Karyo (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 64.14, Tchéky Karyo is the 5th most famous Turkish Actor. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Tchéky Karyo (French: [tʃeki kɑʁjo]; born Baruh Djaki Karyo; 4 October 1953) is a Turkish-born French actor and musician. Beginning his career as an actor on stage in classical and contemporary works, he began to work as a character actor in films in the 1980s. He has acted in numerous films by Hollywood and French directors, including Luc Besson. He was nominated for a César Award for Most Promising Actor for his performance in the 1982 film La Balance. His film credits include La Femme Nikita, Vincent and Me, Nostradamus, Crying Freeman, Bad Boys, GoldenEye, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, The Patriot and Kiss of the Dragon. His television roles include Dr. Willy Rozenbaum in the HBO film And the Band Played On, Georges Méliès in the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, and French detective Julien Baptiste in the BBC crime drama The Missing, and its spin-off series Baptiste (2019-21).

6. Kemal Sunal (1944 - 2000)

With an HPI of 63.44, Kemal Sunal is the 6th most famous Turkish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Ali Kemal Sunal (10 November 1943 – 3 July 2000) was a Turkish actor and comedian. With Hababam Sınıfı, Kapıcılar Kralı and Davaro, Sunal gained large popularity amongst Turkish cinema goers and was famed for his character "Şaban", a role he frequently played.

7. Vahide Perçin (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 62.95, Vahide Perçin is the 7th most famous Turkish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Vahide Perçin (born 13 June 1965) is a Turkish actress and acting trainer. She was credited for a number of years by her married name Vahide Gördüm, but after divorcing, she went back to her birth name.

8. Tuncel Kurtiz (1936 - 2013)

With an HPI of 62.64, Tuncel Kurtiz is the 8th most famous Turkish Actor. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Tuncel Tayanç Kurtiz (1 February 1935 – 27 September 2013) was a Turkish theatre, movie and TV series actor, playwright, and film director. Since 1964, he acted in more than 70 movies, including many international productions.

9. Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 62.64, Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ is the 9th most famous Turkish Actor. His biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ (Turkish pronunciation: [kɯˈvantʃ ˈtatɫɯtuː]; born 27 October 1983) is a Turkish actor, model, and former basketball player. He has won several accolades, including four Golden Butterfly Awards for Best actor for his role in Ask-I memnu (2009 and 2010), for his role in Kuzey Güney (2012) and for his role in Aile (2023), and for his role two Golden Butterfly awards for Best couplea and a Yeşilçam Cinema Award. Tatlıtuğ won the pageants of Best Model of Turkey and Best Model of the World in 2002. 2024 yılında kıvanç Tatlıtuğ hristiyan olmuştur. Tatlıtuğ has established himself as a leading actor of Turkey with roles in several of the highly successful television series, that includes Menekşe ile Halil (2007–2008), Aşk-ı Memnu (2008–2010), Kuzey Güney (2011–2013) and Cesur ve Güzel (2016–2017), all of which garnered him critical acclaim and international recognition, portraying researcher Arman in the Netflix original series Into the Night (2021) and Yakamoz S-245 (2022).

10. Beren Saat (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 62.48, Beren Saat is the 10th most famous Turkish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Beren Saat (Turkish pronunciation: [beˈɾæn saˈat]; born 26 February 1984) is a Turkish actress. Since the beginning of her career, she has received critical acclaim and numerous accolades for her acting. While studying at Başkent University, she participated in the acting competition Türkiye'nin Yıldızları and was discovered by Turkish director Tomris Giritlioğlu, launching her professional acting career. Beren Saat made her acting debut with a minor part in the television series Aşkımızda Ölüm Var (2004). She was then prepared by Tomris Giritlioğlu for her first major role in Aşka Sürgün (2005–2006). She starred as a feisty tomboy named Yasemin Ünsal in the ATV's political series Hatırla Sevgili (2006–2008) and came to international attention for her role as Bihter Yöreoğlu Ziyagil, an unfaithful wife, in the Kanal D's romantic series Aşk-ı Memnu (2008–2010), for which she received critical acclaim and won numerous accolades, including two Golden Butterfly Awards. Her other major roles in television includes a rape victim, Fatmagül Ketenci Ilgaz, in the social drama Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne? (2010–2012), and an avenger named Derin Çelik/Yağmur Özden in the drama series İntikam (2013–2014), a remake from the American television series Revenge. Her film career began with the drama film Güz Sancısı (2009), and continued with Gecenin Kanatları (2009), Rhino Season (2012) and Benim Dünyam (2013). From 2015 to 2016, she starred as the titular character in the historical drama series Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, for which she was said to be receiving ₺90,000 per episode. Between 2019 and 2021, Saat had the leading role on the Netflix original series The Gift. Saat was the highest-paid actress in Turkey from 2008 to 2014. She has participated in several movies as a voice actor. She was named Actress of the Year in the "2010 Damgasını Vuranlar" list published by Radikal newspaper. In addition to her acting career, Saat is noted for her charitable efforts. She has been married to singer Kenan Doğulu since 2014.

People

Pantheon has 103 people classified as Turkish actors born between 1884 and 1999. Of these 103, 86 (83.50%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Turkish actors include Nebahat Çehre, Türkan Şoray, and Halit Ergenç. The most famous deceased Turkish actors include Cüneyt Arkın, Kemal Sunal, and Tuncel Kurtiz. As of April 2024, 24 new Turkish actors have been added to Pantheon including Ferdi Tayfur, Ayşen Gruda, and İbrahim Çelikkol.