Memduh Ün

Memduh Ün — Biography

Arif Memduh Ün (14 March 1920, Istanbul – 16 October 2015, Bodrum) was born in the Kasımpaşa district to police officer Mustafa Ün and Makbule Ün, the daughter of a naval captain; after leaving medical school in his third year, following studies at Vefa High School, he turned to football, playing for Beşiktaş and Ankara Demirspor, and while working as a civil servant made his screen debut in 1947 under the pseudonym Turhan Ün in the film Damga.

He married Cahide Şen in 1949 and had a son and a daughter; the earnings from Hayat Acıları (1951), which he wrote and produced with his friend Arşavir Alyanak, let the pair found Yakut Film, and he moved into directing in 1954, breaking from melodrama with Üç Arkadaş (1958), around the time he met Fatma Girik, with whom he began a lifelong partnership. In 1960 Ayşecik launched the era of child stars in Turkish cinema; he founded his own company, Uğur Film, and adapted works by writers including Orhan Kemal, Graham Greene and William Irish; Kırık Çanaklar, besides its Berlin screening, won Best Director at the 2nd Turkish Film Contest, and Namusum İçin took the same prize at the 3rd Golden Orange.

From the 1970s he focused increasingly on producing, winning Best Producer for Ağrı Dağı Efsanesi, and taught film editing at Mimar Sinan University, mentoring figures such as Halit Refiğ and Tunç Başaran. He died in Bodrum on 16 October 2015 at 95; Fatma Girik was buried beside him, per her wishes, after her own death in 2022.