Ata Demirer

Ata Demirer — Biography

Ali Ata Demirer was born in Bursa on 6 July 1972, the elder of two sons; his father was of Albanian descent and his mother a Meskhetian Turk. He worked as a nightclub pianist-singer before entering the Turkish music department of Istanbul Technical University's State Conservatory in 1991. A friendship with Gökhan Semiz of Grup Vitamin pulled him toward bar comedy, and after being discovered in 1995 he joined the Dormen Theatre's production of Komik Para.

His friendship with Uğur Yücel proved decisive; he left the conservatory, performed in 1996-1998, and in February 1998 drew huge crowds to his solo show Tek Kişilik Dev Kadro at Leman Kültür, selling out more than a thousand shows. Carrying the same characters to television as Korsan TV in 2001 made him a household name, and three seasons playing Volkan in Avrupa Yakası brought nationwide recognition. He released the album Makara (2005) and the single Exit (2006), and hosted the show Hacıyatmaz.

In 2008 he played a fictional sultan, Osman VII, in Osmanlı Cumhuriyeti, directed by Gani Müjde and that year's fourth highest-grossing Turkish film. He co-starred with Demet Akbağ and wrote the screenplays for the Eyyvah Eyvah films, and was married to his co-star Özge Borak, whom he met on set, from 2012 to 2014.