Süheyl Eğriboz

Süheyl Eğriboz — Biography

Born Süheyl Ali Eğriboz on 25 June 1927 in the Gönen district of Balıkesir, the son of Necat Eğriboz, owner of the Nejat Film company, he grew up in Istanbul's Mercan neighborhood and attended Pertevniyal High School for a time. He entered cinema in 1940 with 'Akasya Palas', spent a period on stage with the Muammer Karaca and Ses Tiyatrosu companies, competed as a swimmer for Yüzme İhtisas from 1946 to 1948, and in 1952 appeared alongside Ayhan Işık in a re-enactment filming of the conquest of Istanbul.

Appearing in nearly four hundred films in Yeşilçam, which made him the era's eighth most prolific actor, Eğriboz was best known for playing villains; the 'Sütçü' (Milkman) film series he made with Danyal Topatan between 1978 and 1980 gave him that lasting nickname. In 1971 he was beaten in the street by several men during a religious holiday after playing the killer of the Caliph Omar in the film 'Hazreti Ömer'in Adaleti', and needed 18 stitches to his head.

Remembered for roles in 'Yorgun Savaşçı' (1979), 'Yedi Bela Hüsnü' (1982) and 'Tokatçı' (1983), Eğriboz had been married since 1954 and had two sons, including Yaşar Eğriboz. Hospitalized in November 2013 after a blockage in the blood vessels to his brain, he spent two months in intensive care before dying in Istanbul on 10 January 2014 and being buried at Eyüp Sultan Cemetery.