Erol Sander

Erol Sander — Biography

Born Urçun Salihoğlu on 9 November 1968 in Istanbul, Erol Sander moved with his family to Munich, Germany, at age four in 1973, where he later studied political science and economics. In 1992 he moved to Paris and began working as a model, using earnings from campaigns for Armani, Dior and Dolce & Gabbana to fund his acting training; he took his stage name from actor Errol Flynn and designer Jil Sander. He became widely known playing a Turkish police detective in the series Sinan Toprak ist der Unbestechliche (1999) and continued the role for over a decade in Mordkommission Istanbul (2008-2021). In 2002 he gained pan-European recognition for playing the deposed Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in the film Für immer verloren. In 2004 he took a supporting part, not the title role, in Oliver Stone's film Alexander (listed here as Büyük İskender). He also appeared in productions including Andersrum (2005), Die Alpenklinik (2006) and The Way You Die (2014), and has received a German-Turkish Friendship Prize.