Ertan Saban

Ertan Saban — Biography

Descended from a family that migrated to Macedonia from Kars, Ertan Saban is a Macedonian actor and screenwriter of Turkish descent, born in Skopje on 4 December 1977; he first trained in veterinary studies before switching to the Theatre Department of the State Conservatory of Macedonia, from which he graduated.

Fluent in Bulgarian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Serbian, Albanian, Greek, English and French, he spent many years performing alongside his brother Erman Saban at the Macedonian Turkish Theatre and later worked in theatre in France. He settled in Turkey in the early 2000s and moved into film and television; after series such as Sultan Makamı, Sağır Oda and Savcının Karısı, his real breakthrough came as Aleks in Elveda Rumeli, and he went on to appear in Sakarya Fırat, Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu, Mehmed: Bir Cihan Fatihi, Avlu, Gelsin Hayat Bildiği Gibi and Yakamoz S-245, as well as playing Sakıp in Limonata, which he also co-wrote, and portraying Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in more than one production.

He lost his first wife, İnci Saban, to cancer in 2009, and married actress Ebru Özkan in 2016; the couple have a daughter, Biricik. In 2025 he drew wide praise for playing Vlad Dracula in the series Mehmed: Fetihler Sultanı.