Celile Toyon

Celile Toyon — Biography

Celile Toyon is an actress rooted in the Istanbul City Theatre, where she has performed for decades, who also built a long list of film and television credits. Wider audiences know her best as Hasibe Ana in the series Vatanım Sensin, and she remains on the City Theatre's roster today.

Her career began on stage: she started as an amateur in 1962 and in the 1960s played at Ankara Sanat Tiyatrosu in productions such as 72. Koğuş, Küçük Burjuvalar and Müfettiş, also working with the Arena, Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar, Dormen and Dostlar companies. After the 1980 coup she was dismissed from the City Theatre as one of the so-called 1402 cases and returned by a Council of State ruling. Later stage work there included Hepsi Oğlumdu, III. Richard and İyi Geceler Anne. She entered cinema with İbo ile Güllüşah (1977) and appeared in dozens of films in the 1980s, while Üç İstanbul (1983) was her first significant television job. More recent credits include Çınar Ağacı, Kalbim Ege'de Kaldı, 7. Koğuştaki Mucize and Terzi.

For Aziz Nesin's play Hadi Öldürsene Canikom she was named best actress in a musical or comedy at both the Afife and Sadri Alışık awards in 2005, and in 2017 she received the Çolpan İlhan award honouring women who add value to the arts. She studied at the Harbiye Private Art School and the Istanbul Conservatory, and was married to actor Ersan Uysal.