Selçuk Uluergüven

Selçuk Uluergüven — Biography

Born Mustafa Selçuk Uluergüven on 12 February 1941 in Istanbul, the son of a civil servant who had served as governor of Aydın and Şanlıurfa, he went to Germany as a young man to study at the Free University of Berlin, where he met his future wife, Türkan, marrying her on their return to Turkey. He began his stage career in 1962 at Ankara's Meydan Sahnesi and spent many years with theatre companies including Ankara Sanat Tiyatrosu, Dormen Tiyatrosu, TÖS Halk Oyuncuları and Tiyatro Sanatevi.

He moved into film in 1973, appearing alongside Kemal Sunal in Güllü Geliyor Güllü, and both acted in and produced the 1979 film Bereketli Topraklar Üzerinde, noted for its realism in Turkish cinema history. He became widely recognized for playing Davut Usta in the hit series Bizimkiler, also appearing in films such as Bir Avuç Cennet, Düttürü Dünya, Hiçbiryerde, Gönlümdeki Köşk Olmasa and Istanbul; he served for a time as artistic director of the Bahariye Sanat Merkezi and sat on Kadıköy's district council.

After losing his son Eren, also an actor, in a 2004 stage accident, Uluergüven settled in Aydın with his wife in 2012 and founded the Aydın Sanat Evi Tiyatrosu. He died there on 8 January 2014 following months of treatment for a hip prosthesis complication, and was laid to rest beside Eren at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery in Istanbul.