Tuncel Kurtiz

Tuncel Tayanç Kurtiz (1 February 1936 – 27 September 2013) was a Turkish theatre, movie and TV series actor, playwright, and film director Since 1964, he acted in more than 70 movies, including many international productions.

He was born in Bahçecik [tr], Kocaeli, a town in Turkey. His father was a district governor (kaymakam) and his mother is of Bosniak descent a teacher. His parents' occupation was the reason the family toured many places across the country. After graduating from the Haydarpaşa High School in Istanbul, Kurtiz studied English philology at Istanbul University.

He soon started a career as an actor playing theatres. Since 1958, Kurtiz performed on many stages in Istanbul, in state and private theatres. He was also on the stage at Gothenburg City Theatre, Stockholm Royal Theatre and Swedish Theatre in Sweden, Schaubühne Berlin, Frankfurt City Theatre and Hamburg City Theatre in Germany and at Peter Brook Shakespeare Royal Theatre in England. Kurtiz directed plays for the German-Turkish theatre project "Türkisches Ensemble" in the late 1970s.

During his university years and later the military service period, he became friends with the renowned film director Yılmaz Güney. They made a number of films together. Their 1970 film Umut was prohibited to leave Turkey, but was shown in Cannes Film Festival by a smuggled copy.

His first film role was in Şeytanın Uşakları, shot in 1964. Since then, Tuncel Kurtiz played also in many international productions like Swedish, German, Dutch, Italian, French, British, Israel and Indian films and TV series, mostly in the original language.

Tuncel Kurtiz died at the age of 77 on 27 September 2013 following a fall-inflicted head trauma in his residence in Etiler, Istanbul.

• "Best Screenplay" at 1981 Antalya Film Festival for his script Gül Hasan
• "Best Actor" at the 36th Berlin International Film Festival for his role in the Israel film Hiuch HaGdi
• "Best Supporting Actor" at 1994 Antalya Film Festival for his role in Bir Aşk Uğruna
• "Best Actor" at 7th Sadri Alışık Awards for his role in Şellale
• "Best Supporting Actor" at 2007 Antalya Film Festival for his role in Yaşamın Kıyısında