Belgin Doruk

Belgin Doruk — Biography

Belgin Doruk was born on 28 June 1936 in Ankara and died of heart failure in Istanbul on 26 March 1995. While still in secondary school she won a magazine talent contest alongside Ayhan Işık, which led to her film debut in Çakırcalı Mehmet Efe'nin Definesi, and in 1953 she was runner-up in a national beauty pageant. She married the film's director, Faruk Kenç, and had a daughter with him before they divorced a few years later; she then married screenwriter-director Özdemir Birsel and had a son. Paired again with Ayhan Işık under director Nejat Saydam, she starred in a romantic comedy that became a box-office phenomenon and grew into a series, earning her the nickname "Küçük Hanımefendi" (Little Lady). She also frequently co-starred with singer-actor Zeki Müren. In 1970 she won the Antalya Film Festival's best actress award for a children's film. Personal and health difficulties reduced her film output in the early 1970s, and she announced her retirement from cinema in 1975.