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Cüneyt Türel
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · Cüneyt Türel · CC BY 4.0

Cüneyt Türel

Actor · died at 69

Profile

Age at death69
Birth dateOctober 26, 1942
BirthplaceIstanbul
DiedMay 1, 2012
Place of deathIstanbul
ProfessionActor

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Filmography / Projects

Cüneyt Türel — Biography

Istanbul-born Cüneyt Türel studied sociology at Istanbul University and worked as a Turkish stage actor, director and voice artist. He first appeared on stage as a high-school student in an amateur theatre group run by the Green Crescent Society, and turned professional while at university with the Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar Theatre. Joining the Istanbul City Theatres in 1965, he spent close to three decades there as both actor and director, winning Avni Dilligil awards for productions including Vahşi Batı and Tartuffe.

After retiring in 1995 he co-founded the Aksanat Production Theatre with Işıl Kasapoğlu and Tilbe Saran, appearing in nearly every one of its plays until it closed in 2007 and earning further awards for roles including Abélard ve Héloise and Sevilmek. He performed in Robert Wilson's staging of Rumi in Athens, Warsaw and at the Ravenna Festival, and appeared alongside Jeanne Moreau in a production directed by Amos Gitai. On screen he reached wider audiences as Haldun Göksun in the series Doktorlar and through films such as Rina and Çakal, and he was also known as a dubbing voice for actors including Tarık Akan and Kevin Costner, as well as for advertising voice-overs.

Shortly before he was due to receive the Istanbul Theatre Festival's Honorary Award, Türel died of cancer in an Istanbul hospital on 1 May 2012 at the age of 69; a theatre in Beyoğlu was later named after him.

Reactions

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Their work through different eyes

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

The same figure recurs in Cüneyt Türel's screen work: the senior man of an institution. He is the chief of staff Haldun Göksun in Doktorlar, Hüseyin Hilmi Paşa in Abdülhamid Düşerken and Father Vasilis in Rina, the face of authority and experience in a hospital, a palace and a church. In my view these parts show which faces Turkish screens trust when they portray institutions.

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

Cüneyt Türel's screen identity is not limited to the chief physicians of television: Reha Erdem cast him in both Kaç Para Kaç and Beş Vakit. That a writer-director film like Kaç Para Kaç, about Selim losing all sense of measure once he finds a bag of money, made room for him suggests, in my view, that directors wanted him outside popular series as well.

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.

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