Semra Özdamar

Semra Özdamar — Biography

Born in Bursa, Semra Özdamar is remembered as one of the recognizable faces of the golden age of Turkish cinema, above all for playing the literature teacher Semra Hoca in Hababam Sınıfı Sınıfta Kaldı. She entered cinema in 1973 and remained active through 1978, after which she left acting for short-story writing and spent time living in Germany.

Her career included 1974 films such as Anadolu Ekspresi, Erkeksen Kaçma, Deli Ferhat, Tütün Zamanı and Yılmaz Güney's Arkadaş, and in 1977 she won Best Actress at the 14th Golden Orange Film Festival for Kara Çarşaflı Gelin. She was previously married to documentary filmmaker and academic Süha Arın, a marriage that later ended.