Okan Bayülgen

Okan Bayülgen — Biography

Late-night talk shows made Okan Bayülgen, a Turkish showman, actor and theatre director, best known as their sharp-tongued face. As private radio and television took off in the 1990s, he became famous for mocking his guests and the viewers who phoned in. He is still on stage: in 2026 he is performing the show Devlerin Savaşı with Celal Kadri Kınoğlu in Turkey and Cyprus.

He attended Galatasaray High School and briefly studied photography and university courses in France, then graduated from the theatre department of the Mimar Sinan State Conservatory in 1989. He worked as the youngest director at the State Theatres until resigning in 1994. His radio career had begun in 1991 at Kent FM. On television he rose with Gece Kuşu and Televizyon Çocuğu on atv, and returned with Zaga on Kanal D, which ran from 1998 to 2005. At NTV and CNN Türk he tried more serious conversation formats such as Herkes Bunu Konuşuyor and Haber Makinası, and in 2018 he made Kabareden Naklen Okan Bayülgen for Show Radyo.

On screen he appeared in İstanbul Kanatlarımın Altında (1996) and Ağır Roman (1997), followed by Hemşo, Komser Şekspir, Gülüm, Sınav, Romantik and Kanal-İ-zasyon, and in the series Utanmaz Adam. In 1997 an assailant shot him in the leg over his role in İstanbul Kanatlarımın Altında.