Biography

Türkan Şoray was born to a government official father, Halit Şoray and her mother, Meliha Şoray, was a housewife. She has one younger sister Nazan, who is also an actress in her own right but is nowhere near as famous as Türkan. After the birth of her younger sister, Türkan's parents divorced and the custody of the children was given to the mother. Türkan Şoray graduated from Fatih Kız Lisesi (Fatih Girls' High School) attending both the middle and intermediate grades. Whilst living in rented accommodation in Karagümrük

Karagumruk

Karagümrük is a neighborhood in Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. The neighborhood also has a famous soccer team in Turkish Superleague Karagümrük Spor Kulübü. In 1958, the team qualified for the first division. However their professional performance did not last long and eventually they got...

 neighborhood of Fatih

Fatih

Fatih is a municipality and district in Istanbul, Turkey that encompasses most of the peninsula coinciding with historic Constantinople. In 2009, the district of Eminönü, formerly a separate municipality located at the tip of the peninsula, was merged into Fatih...

 district in Istanbul,with her mother and sister, she would not know that their landlords would be her link to stardom. The landlords were the parents of one of the first actresses of Turkish cinema, Emel Yıldız and it is with her that Türkan first set foot on a film set. After this, Türkan was ever closer to a contract with one of Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

's top film studios in Yeşilçam.

Debut

She made her film debut in 1960 at just 15 years old with the film Aşk Rüzgarı(The Wind of Love). After the movie's success Türkan started to be advised by a Yeşilçam screenwriter, film director and producer Türker İnanoğlu

Türker Inanoglu

Türker İnanoğlu is a Turkish screenwriter, film director and producer.-Life:...

. It is he, who would in the same year, sack Türkan's close friend Emel Yıldız in order to give his new prodigy the leading role in the studio's upcoming movie Köyde Bir Kız Sevdim(Falling in Love with a Girl in the Villiage).

Early career

For the next five years, Şoray appeared in over sixty films. After her 1965 triumph , she was named as one of Turkey's four leading actresses. But this was also the year when her career was in turmoil. Her starring in stereotyped roles, in films with the same plot and story lines, drove people away from her and harmed her fame. This led to several arguments with some film producers and as a result she was dismissed by most of them. Türkan Şoray knew, in order to survive, she would have to take control quickly and she did. She introduced what became known as the "Şoray Rules". She would only work if the studio and the directors obeyed these rules. Some of these rules are known to be:

• She has to be given the script no later than a month before shooting is to start, and if she disapproves of anything in it, changes have to be made or she does not accept the role.
• Films in which she has performed could be filmed only in Istanbul, as she does not and cannot leave the city.
• She does not work on Sundays.
• Due to her character, she never kisses someone.
• Her character having intercourse should never be implied.

The "Şoray Rules" were seen by some to be the demands of a Hollywood diva, but it paid off as she was given the respect she wanted and the movie roles came flying in as well.

For the remainder of the 1960s she starred in a further 48 films, making her one of Turkey's most successful female artists in Turkish film history having acted in over 100 movies in the span of ten years. She gained the soubriquet of "The Sultan" as she was the most demanded actress of the Turkish Cinematography in her golden times. But sadly this would be short lived because the market changed during the 1970s and 1980s. People were no longer into the traditional "boy meets girl, girl is poor, boy is rich" scenarios.

Later career

She went on working with respectable directors in later years. One of them was Atıf Yılmaz

Atif Yilmaz

Atıf Yılmaz Batıbeki was a renowned Turkish Kurdish film director, screenwriter and film producer. He was almost a legend in the film industry of Turkey with 119 movies directed. He also wrote 53 screenplays and produced 28 movies since 1951. He was active in almost every period of the Turkish...

, 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 Inanir

Kadir İnanır is a popular Turkish film actor and director.- Biography :İnanır was born in 1949 in Fatsa, a town in Ordu province of Turkey. He acted in forty-three films since 1967 and appeared on television in "Bütün Çocuklarım" as Ali Yahya in 2004...

.

Awards

She won her first of many awards when she received the best actress prize at the 'Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival

Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival

The Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival is a film festival, held annually since 1963 in Antalya, is the most important national film festival in Turkey...

' for the film Acı Hayat (Bitter Love).

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 Licenced 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 Türkan 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

As an actress

Year	Film	Role	Nots
1960	Aşk Rüzgarı	Nil
	Güzeller Resmi Geçidi	Ayşe
	Köyde Bir Kız Sevdim
1961	Otobüs Yolcuları	Nevin
	Melekler Şahidimdir
	Siyah Melek (Zincirler Kırılırken)	Nesrin
	Hatırla Sevgilim
	Utanmaz Adam	Sevim
	Sevimli Haydut		Emine
	Kaderin Önüne Geçilmez
	Gönülden Gönüle		Nazan
	Dikenli Gül
	Aşk Ve Yumruk
	Afacan
	Kardeş Uğruna
1962	Biz de Arkadaş mıyız?
	Acı Hayat	Nermin
	Lekeli Kadın		Türkan
	Billur Köşk
	Bir Haydut Sevdim
	Bardaktaki Adam
	Aşk Yarışı	Zeynep
	Zorlu Damatl	Gönül
	Allah Seviniz Dedi
	Kırmızı Karanfiller
	Dikmen Yıldızı
	Ümitler Kırılınca	Oya
	Ne Şeker Şey	Canan, Jale
1963	Adanalı Tayfur
	Köroğlu (Dağlar Kralı)	Türkan Sultan
	Beni Osman Öldürdü	Türkan
	Acı Aşk
	Çapkın Kız	Suna
	Küçük Beyin Kısmeti	Pervin
	Sayın Bayan	Türkan Bayraktar
	İki Kocalı Kadın	Sibel
	Çalınan Aşk	Aysel, Günsel
	Bütün Suçumuz Sevmek
	Badem Şekeri	Güner Pirinçeken
	Genç Kızlar	Behlül, Eylül Servan
	Ayşecik Canımın İçi	Elif
1964	Adanalı Tayfur Kardeşler	Türkan
	Dağların Aslanı
	Mualla
	Fıstık Gibi Maşallah	Gülten
	Kızgın Delikanlı	Avukat Sevil
	Anasının Kuzusu	Türkan
	Macera Kadını
	Kader Kapıyı Çaldı	Leyla
	Gözleri Ömre Bedel	Leyla
	Gençlik Rüzgarı	Fatma Nur Erden
	Bücür Bucur Bucur is the legendary Romanian shepherd who is said to have founded Bucharest, giving its name to it. While the legend about the shepherd is probably apocryphal, the name of Bucureşti is quite likely derived from a person Bucur, as the suffix -eşti is used for settlements derived from personal...
	Yılların Ardından
	Bomba Gibi Kız	Leyla
	Öksüz Kız
1965	Ekmekçi Kadın	Ayşe, Zehra, Leyla
	Elveda Sevgilim	Türkan Kadiroğlu
	Seven Kadın Unutmaz	Türkan
	Komşunun Tavuğu	Türkan
	Sürtük	Naciye
	Siyah Gözler	Türkan
	Hayatımın Kadını
	Garip Bir İzdivaç	Zeynep Gökalp
	Veda Busesi	Türkan
	Vahşi Gelin	Ayşegül
1966	Altın Küpeler	Aylin
	Sana Layık Değilim	Türkan
	Akşam Güneşi	Jülide
	Çalıkuşu	Feride
	Kenarın Dilberi	Şarkıcı
	Meleklerin İntikamı	Türkan, Peri
	Anaların Günahı
	Düğün Gecesi	Zeynep
	Siyah Gül	Gül
	Meyhanenin Gülü
	Karanfilli Kadın
	Günahkar Kadın		Türkan
	Ferhat ile Şirin
	Eli Maşalı
	El Kızı
	Çamaşırcı Güzeli
1967	Bir Dağ Masalı	Lale
	Bir Soförun Gizli Defteri
	Ayrılsak da Beraberiz	Fatma
	Ağlayan Kadın	Şükran, Leyla
	Ana	Döndü
	Sinekli Bakkal	Rabia
	Ölümsüz Kadın
	Kelepçeli Melek	Nevin Erdem
	Kara Duvaklı Gelin	Perihan
	Her Zaman Kalbimdesin
	Tapılacak Kadın
1968	Kahveci Güzeli	Nermin
	Vesikalı Yarim	Sabiha
	Abbase Sultan	Abbase
	Ayşem	Ayşe
	Hapishane Gelini	Çengi Naciye
	Kadın Severse	Leyla
	Dünyanın En Güzel Kadını
	Aşk Eski Bir Yalan
	Artık Sevmeyeceğim	Nesrin, Leyla
	Ağla Gözlerim	Leyla, Hicran
	Kadın İntikamı
	Kadın Değil, Baş Belası	Çengi Naciye
1969	Fosforlu Cevriyem	Fosforlu Cevriye Necla
	Bana Derler Fosforlu
	Aşk Mabudesi
	Buruk Acı
	Kölen Olayım	Azize
	Sonbahar Rüzgarları
	Sana Dönmeyeceğim	Leyla Taner
	Seninle Ölmek İstiyorum
	Ateşli Çingene
	Günah Bende mi?
1970	Bülbül Yuvası Bülbül yuvası Bülbül yuvası , is a Turkish phyllo dough dessert. It takes its name from its hollow and circular shape. Having been baked, warm syrup is sprinkled, and the hollow center is filled with pistachios before being served.-External links:*...
	Buğulu Gözler
	Arım, Balım, Peteğim
	Kara Gözlüm l	Azize
	Hayatım Sana Feda
	Ağlayan Melek	Sabahat
	Tatlı Meleğim
	Mazi Kalbimde Yaradır
	Birleşen Yollar
	Merhamet
	Herkesin Sevgilisi
	Mağrur Kadın
1971	Sevmek Ve Ölmek Zamanı
	Gelin Çiçeği
	Ateş Parçası
	Melek Mi Şeytan Mı? / Asrın Kadını
	Mavi Eşarp
	Unutulan Kadın
	Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz
	Güllü
	Bir Kadın Kayboldu
	Gülüm, Dalım, Çiçeğim
	Bir Genç Kızın Romanı
1972	Cemo
	Zulüm
	Dönüş
	Sisli Hatıralar
	Vukuat Var
	Çile
1973	Mahpus	Ümmühan
	Güllü Geliyor Güllü	Güllü Fındıkoğlu
	Azap
	Sultan Gelin
	Asiye Nasıl Kurtulur?
	Yalancı / Çok Yalnızım
	Namus Borcu
	Gazi Kadın / Nene Hatun	Zeynep
	Dert Bende
1974	Şenlik Var / Bal Kız
	Yüreğimde Yare Var
	Çılgınlar
	Açlık
1975	Acele Koca Aranıyor
1976	Deprem
	Bodrum Hakimi
	Devlerin Aşkı
1977	Selvi Boylum, Al Yazmalım Selvi Boylum, Al Yazmalim The Girl with the Red Scarf is a 1978 Turkish romantic drama film, directed by Atıf Yılmaz based on the short story The Red Scarf by Cengiz Aytmatov, about a village girl who falls in love with a truck driver from Istanbul...
	Baraj
	Dila Hanım
1978	Sultan
	Bir Aşk Masalı
	Cevriyem
	Tatlı Nigar
1979	Aşk ve Nefret
	Hazal
	Küskün Çiçek
1980	Gurbetçiler
	Tabancamın Sapını Gülle Donatacağım
1981	Yılanı Öldürseler
1982	Mine
	Seni Kalbime Gömdüm
1983	Metres
	Seni Seviyorum
1984	Bir Sevgi İstiyorum
1985	Körebe
	Bir Kadın Bir Hayat
1987	Hayallerim, Aşkım Ve Sen	Derya Altınay
	Gramofon Avrat	Cemile
	On Kadın
	Rumuz Goncagül	Gülsün
1988	Ada
1989	Ölü Bir Deniz
1990	Berdel
	Soğuktu Ve Yağmur Çiseliyordu
1991	Menekşe Koyu
1993	Şahmaran
	Tatlı Betüş
1994	Bir Aşk Uğruna
1995	Yer Çekimli Aşklar
1996	Gözlerinde Son Gece
1997	Nihavend Mucize
1998	İkinci Bahar	Türkan	Şener Şen & Türkan Şoray
2001	Tatlı Hayat
2002	Gönderilmemiş Mektuplar
2004	Mürüvvetsiz Mürüvvet
2006	Cemile
	Ayın Yıldızı	Karagümrüklü Karakız
	Aşk Beklemez
	Hayatımın Kadınısın
2007	Suna
2008	Vurgun
2009	Altın Kızlar

As a director

• Yılanı Öldürseler - 1981 (with Şerif Gören
  Serif Gören
  Şerif Gören is a Turkish film director. Aside from important films under his own signature, he is also the winner of the Palme d'Or award in Cannes Film Festival in 1982 for the film Yol, which he had directed on behalf of Yılmaz Güney, who at the time was serving a prison sentence for the murder...
  
  )
• Bodrum Hakimi - 1976
• Azap - 1973
• Dönüş - 1972

Songs

* Buruk Acı Genre: Segah Lyrics: Türkan Şoray Composer: Teoman Alpay This song is frequently attributed to Şoray, although the lyrics were actually written by Sennur Sezer but publicised otherwise.

External links