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Savaş Yurttaş

Savaş Yurttaş

Actor · 1944 – 2002

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Birth date1944
BirthplaceKayseri
DiedApril 8, 2002
ProfessionActor
EducationIstanbul University

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Filmography / Projects

Savaş Yurttaş — Biography

Savaş Yurttaş was a theatre, film and television actor remembered in Turkey above all for two characters: Kavruk Hasan in TRT's 1970s programme 5 Dakika and Eskici Yengeç Hüseyin in the series Bizimkiler. Both won him wide affection. Altan Erkekli, who shared the stage with him, called Yurttaş "my master" and described Kavruk Hasan as an oppressed but upright Anatolian young man, a symbol of love and tolerance.

Born in the Pınarbaşı district of Kayseri, he began on the stage of Istanbul University's Youth Theatre in Sermet Çağan's Ayak Bacak Fabrikası while still a student there, and turned to the theatre before graduating. In Ankara he worked at the Ulvi Uraz Theatre, the Turkish Teachers' Union Theatre, Ankara Halk Oyuncuları and, for the longest, Ankara Sanat Tiyatrosu; Brecht's Komün Günleri and Jan Dark Davası and Gorky's Ana were among his productions. Known on television through 5 Dakika, he became nationally famous with Bizimkiler, which began in 1989 and which he stayed with until his death, and he also appeared in Yazlıkçılar and Oğlum Adam Olacak.

In cinema he acted in films including Sürü, Yılanların Öcü, Bebek, Davacı, Gizli Yüz, Sarı Mercedes and, last, Şellale (2001), and in 1981 he received the film writers' Best Supporting Actor award. He overcame throat cancer but his vocal cords were damaged, and he kept acting regardless. He died at Hacettepe University Hospital in Ankara on 8 April 2002.

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Their work through different eyes

Yeşilçam Nostalgic A viewer raised on the classics, looking for warm storytelling and strong acting.

Mention Savaş Yurttaş and Bizimkiler comes first: in this comedy of seven households living side by side in one apartment block, the junk dealer Hüseyin is one of the faces of the neighbourhood's hard-pressed ordinary people. In my view the show's long affection came not from one bright star but from faces like Yurttaş, who build ordinary people warmly and without show. Not pushing forward in such a cast is a skill too.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Savaş Yurttaş's work links two quite different shores: the apartment-block comedy of Bizimkiler and the provincial drama of Sürü. Written by Yılmaz Güney and directed with Zeki Ökten, Sürü follows a family in 1970s Siirt forced by a blood feud to sell its sheep, and Yurttaş appears as Sıddık, one of the faces around that story. In my view what makes Yurttaş worth noticing is that he stands with the same credibility among the city's everyday people and in the tense world of the provinces.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes on this person's screen work, written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader comments are below.

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