Dizi Planet
Celal Yonat

Celal Yonat

Actor · 1922 – 1993

Profile

Birth date1922
BirthplaceSivas
DiedDecember 29, 1993
Place of deathIstanbul
ProfessionActor
Real nameCelalettin Yonat
NicknameArap Celal
EducationPrimary school

In the rankings

Worked most often with

Filmography / Projects

Celal Yonat — Biography

Turkish stage and film actor Celalettin Yonat went by the name "Arap Celal". Over roughly forty-five years he appeared in more than four hundred productions, mostly in small character parts, and he is remembered for the Arap Celal persona in the Şaban films. Because of his nickname his home region was long mistaken, though he was from Sivas. His name also appears as Celal Donat in some places.

Born in Sivas in 1922, he went to work after primary school, gaining stage experience with the troupes of Burhanettin Tepsi and İsmail Dümbüllü and in the Halkevleri. He entered cinema in 1948 as an extra. In later years he became a familiar face in supporting roles such as town crier, coffee-house keeper, greengrocer, pirate, gambler, bar owner and general: he played the town crier in Battal Gazi Destanı (1971) and the general in Hababam Taburu (1975), and he also acted in Köroğlu (1968). Producer Kayahan Arıkan listed him as an assistant on some of his films, and he also acted in photo-novels.

He made his name above all through the Arap Celal character in Gerzek Şaban (1980) and En Büyük Şaban (1983). Kibar Feyzo (1978), Yedi Bela Hüsnü (1982) and Tokatçı (1983) are also among his work. He also appeared in television series in the 1990s, including Itri (1991) and Üçüzler (1993). He died in Istanbul on 29 December 1993.

Reactions

You can pick up to 3 reactions.

Their work through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Celal Yonat's forty-five years of work have two faces. In Yatık Emine, Ömer Kavur's first feature, he plays one of the townspeople of a Refik Halit Karay adaptation; in Natuk Baytan's comedies the name Arap Celal travels from Gerzek Şaban into Arap Cafer in Sakar Şakir. In my view the branding of the character is a limit: as the type repeats, the room for detail shrinks, while a film like Yatık Emine shows what he could do outside that narrow mould.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Celal Yonat's roles are the voices of the market and the town: the drummer in Tarkan: Viking Kanı, the town crier in Battal Gazi Destanı, the barker in Tosun Paşa. Socially, these are the people who stand for the square, the news and the daily living in historical and provincial adventures; while the heroes fight, he builds the everyday public of that world. In my view Yonat's value lies not in the big names carrying the story but in the small figures who make a scene look crowded and real.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes on this person's screen work, written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader comments are below.

Comments