Renowned Turkish actor Tarık Akan, whose real name was Tahsin Tarık Üregil, passed away at the age of 66 on 15th September, Friday in Istanbul. It was known that Akan’s been fighting lung cancer for about one month. He was one of the iconic characters of the “Yeşilçam” era of Turkish Cinema. After the commemoration ceremony was held in Muhsin Ertuğrul Theatre, his funeral held at the Teşvikiye Mosque with the participations of thousands. After the funeral, he was buried in Bakırköy Zuhuratbaba Cemetery.
Tarık Akan was born in Istanbul on 13th December of 1949. He graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Yıldız Technical University, and decided to study journalism after his graduation. Before getting involved with the fascinating cinema world, he was wandering Istanbul’s streets as a street vendor. The day when he won “the Cinema Artist Competition of Ses Magazine” in 1970 turned his life on its head. In 1971, he first appeared on the film” Solan Bir Yaprak Gibi” (Like a Dying Leaf). After that, he played the character “Damat Ferit” (Groom Ferit) in director Ertem Eğitmez’s cinema adaptation of Rıfat Ilgaz’s “Hababam Sınıfı” (Chaos Class). In “Hababam Sınıfı”, he played along with numerous legends of Turkish Cinema including Halit Akçatepe, Şener Şen, Münir Özkul and Kemal Sunal whose untimely death in 2000 shocked Turkish people. Therefore, Hababam Sınıfı became a cult movie of Turkish cinema. In his four-decade career, Tarık Akan starred in over 100 films and directed several documentaries and TV series.
Tarık Akan was also known for his politically leftward view. After his speech criticising the 12 September 1980 Coup, he was tried in court and imprisoned for two and a half months in 1981. He wrote a book that describes his jail days named “Anne Kafamda Bit Var” (Mom,I Have Head Lice). Tarık Akan was also the chairman of the Nesin Foundation, founded by a Turkish renowned leftist author Aziz Nesin. In 1991, Tarık Akan took over a private elementary school in Bakırköy, Istanbul. Then, he founded his own “Bakırköy Özel Taş Koleji” over it.
Born and raised in Istanbul where I’m a medical student at YeditepeUniversity.