Hüseyin Kemal Gürmen

Hüseyin Kemal Gürmen — Biography

Hüseyin Kemal Gürmen was an actor who stood on the stage in the formative years of Turkish theatre and also had a film career stretching from the silent era to the 1960s. Besides acting he made translations and directed plays, and he is remembered for his contribution to the development of Turkish theatre. By 1923 he was a nationally known performer.

His artistic life began in 1918 when he joined the Darülbedayi. A year later, in 1919, he stepped into cinema by appearing in Binnaz. In 1923 he joined the Millî Sahne company; later he moved to Muhsin Ertuğrul's Edebî Tiyatro Heyeti, and when that group dissolved he worked at Yeni Sahne and then with the Raşit Rıza company.

His roles spread over the decades include Ankara Postası (1929), Duvaksız Gelin / Hülleci (1942), Dertli Pınar (1943), Yuvamı Yıkamazsın (1947), Fedakar Ana (1949), İstanbul Kan Ağlarken (1951), Kahpenin Kızı and Yavuz Sultan Selim Ağlıyor (1952), Kanlı Para (1953) and İçli Kız Funda (1967). He died in Istanbul, his birth city, on 1 March 1974.