Cengiz Bozkurt

Cengiz Bozkurt — Biography

Mehmet Cengiz Bozkurt was born in the Gülşehir district of Nevşehir province and finished secondary school at Ankara Atatürk Lisesi. He enrolled to study physics at Middle East Technical University in 1984, but after joining the university's theatre troupe he left the department in 1990 and moved to England; over the following fourteen years he worked a string of odd jobs while completing a second degree in media and communications at Goldsmiths, University of London in 1996, and went on to shoot documentaries and direct short films. After meeting fellow Turkish theatre director Mehmet Ergen in London, he chose to keep acting and became general artistic director of Arcola Theatre, which he had co-founded.

He returned to Turkey in 2003 when Ergen invited him to Istanbul for a stage production, and continued his career across both countries. Best known for playing Erdal Bakkal in the series Leyla ile Mecnun, he won Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Orange Film Festival for Kavşak, at the Sadri Alışık Awards for Ailecek Şaşkınız, and at the Golden Butterfly Awards for his role in Gençliğim Eyvah.

He has since appeared in Jet Sosyete, 50m2 and Kuru Otlar Üstüne, and in 2024 in Efsane and Kuvvetli Bir Alkış. In May 2026, while performing in the musical Don Kişot, he tore his Achilles tendon and underwent surgery.