Sadık Şendil

Sadık Şendil — Biography

Sadık Şendil was born on February 28, 1913, in Istanbul; he began his education at Galatasaray High School but left before finishing and worked for a time as a civil servant. He entered professional writing in 1953 with the script "Beklenen Şarkı," and over his career wrote nearly 200 film screenplays and eight stage plays, becoming known for the comedies built around Kemal Sunal and the Hababam Sınıfı series, and also writing the lyrics to the song "Senede Bir Gün." He worked for a time with Müjdat Gezen at the Güldürü Üretim Merkezi, and most of his scripts were filmed by directors Ertem Eğilmez and Sırrı Gültekin; in the 1970s he won the Golden Orange Film Festival's Best Screenplay award more than once, for Kalbimin Efendisi, Sev Kardeşim and Oh Olsun.

He died in his sleep of a heart attack in Istanbul on July 26, 1986, and was buried at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery. Plays such as "Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz" and "Kanlı Nigar" are still staged today: Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz was mounted as a musical in Bursa in 2026, and Kanlı Nigar has been performed by theatre companies in Malatya.