Sadri Alışık

Sadri Alışık — Biography

Born in the Beykoz district of Istanbul on 5 April 1925, Sadri Alışık developed an early love of theatre through school plays, made his amateur stage debut at the Eminönü community house in 1939, and, after passing the entrance exam for the Ankara State Conservatory but being turned away for nearsightedness, continued his training in Istanbul instead. He began professional acting at the Raşit Rıza Theatre in 1943, and director Faruk Kenç, having spotted him in a community-house play, brought him into cinema with Günahsızlar in 1944; after military service he returned in the 1950s mostly in supporting parts, won a best-actor prize for Zümrüt in 1959, and that same year married his co-star from Yalnızlar Rıhtımı, Çolpan İlhan. His 1961 role as Bülent Soysal made him a star, and the minor character Turist Ömer, first played in 1963, grew from 1964 into the lead of a seven-film series; around the same time he became identified with the down-and-out figure of Avare and with Ofsayt Osman in Şaka ile Karışık. From 1968 to 1980 he told stories and sang in nightclub shows, and his final film, Yengeç Sepeti in 1994, brought him a second best-actor award before he died in Istanbul on 18 March 1995.