Demet Akbağ

Demet Akbağ — Biography

Demet Akbağ (born Demet İybar) is a Turkish theatre, film and television actress. She was born in Denizli, where her family lived because of her grandfather's posting; her father is the journalist and photographer Oktay İybar. After her parents separated she moved to Istanbul in 1972 with her mother and grandmother. Having finished her secondary education at Erenköy Girls' High School, she entered the theatre department of the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory in 1982 and graduated four years later.

She began acting as an amateur and turned professional in 1983 with the Gönül Ülkü–Gazanfer Özcan theatre, later working with companies such as Kent Oyuncuları, Yeditepe Oyuncuları, Devekuşu Kabare, Dormen Tiyatrosu and Ortaoyuncular. She became a household name through the sketch series Bir Demet Tiyatro (1995), which she created with Yılmaz Erdoğan, and joined the BKM ensemble that grew out of the play Otogargara.

She made her film debut in Zeki Ökten's Davacı (1986). Her best-known screen roles include Siti Ana in Vizontele and Vizontele Tuuba, Firuzan in the Eyyvah Eyvah films, Xate in the Hükümet Kadın series and Necla in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Kış Uykusu (2014). Her later work includes Nadide Hayat, Görevimiz Tatil, 9 Kere Leyla and the series Sandık Kokusu, alongside her stage success in Aydınlıkevler.