Arif Erkin Güzelbeyoğlu

Arif Erkin Güzelbeyoğlu — Biography

Born in Gaziantep on 11 September 1935, Arif Erkin Güzelbeyoğlu trained as an architect at Istanbul Technical University while pursuing theatre and music throughout his life; his surname was Turkified from Güzelbeyzade, the name of a Turkmen clan. He took violin lessons and acted in an amateur school production of a Molière adaptation in 1950, then turned professional in 1964 with the musical Direklerarası at the Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar Theatre, both performing and composing. In 1969 he was a founding member of Genco Erkal's Dostlar Theatre, writing the music for all of its productions during its first five years, while working for thirty years as a municipal bureaucrat in Istanbul's zoning department, eventually rising to deputy technical director in Beşiktaş. His composing carried over into film: he won the Best Music award at the 1969 Adana Golden Boll Film Festival for Umut, and also scored Ağıt and Değirmen. As an actor he became best known for the series İkinci Bahar (1998-2001) and for playing Memik Dede in Yabancı Damat (2004-2007), later appearing in Muhteşem Yüzyıl, Bizimkiler and Aile Arasında. In 2021 he received an Honor Award at the İzmir International Film and Music Festival for his musical contributions to cinema. He died in Istanbul on 16 October 2025, about a month after his 90th birthday.