Ahu Tuğba

Ahu Tuğba — Biography

Ahu Tuğba (born Tuğba Çetin; 13 August 1955, Istanbul – 1 September 2024, Miami) was a Turkish film actress of Albanian descent. Born in the Yeşilköy district as the only child of a wealthy family, she graduated from the girls' section of Robert College and later attended the English Language department at Concordia University in Canada, though she left without completing her degree.

She entered cinema while still a student after director Metin Erksan offered her a film role. She became well known from the late 1970s onward, and during the 1980s she was counted among the era's leading female stars alongside Banu Alkan, Serpil Çakmaklı and Müjde Ar. Starring opposite actors such as Kemal Sunal, Cüneyt Arkın, Tarık Akan and Kadir İnanır, she became identified with films including Dokunmayın Şabanıma (1979), Banker Bilo (1980), Zifaf and Taçsız Kraliçe (1984). She also released a music album in 1987.

Married many times over her life, she had one child, a daughter named Anjelik, from her marriage to the Albanian-American doctor Timmy Alejtanij. Suffering from advanced COPD, she died at her home in Miami at the age of 69; her body was brought to Turkey and buried at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.