Biyograficim
Ayberk Pekcan
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · The Dataspot, Uploaded by Ainty Painty · CC BY 3.0

Ayberk Pekcan

Actor · died at 51

Profile

Age at death51
Birth dateMay 22, 1970
BirthplaceMersin
DiedJanuary 24, 2022
Place of deathMersin
ProfessionActor
Zodiac signGemini
Eye colorBrown
EducationMersin University Faculty of Fine Arts, Performing Arts Department, Theatre

In the rankings

Worked most often with

Filmography / Projects

Ayberk Pekcan — Biography

Ayberk Pekcan was a character actor whom Turkish audiences knew well and who became widely loved, including in Pakistan, as Artuk Bey in Diriliş Ertuğrul. In cinema he collected critics' awards for Saç, Aşk ve Devrim and Kış Uykusu. He died in Mersin in January 2022, and his last film, Dilberay, reached cinemas ten days later, on February 4.

Before acting he worked as a laborer, a civil servant and a teacher, and in 1991 he was involved in local politics on the Social Democratic Populist Party side. He grew up in Adana and Mersin and studied theater at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Mersin University. In 2001 he left the civil service and moved to Istanbul to act professionally. He first appeared on screen in 1995 in Çiçek Taksi, and later took major roles in series such as Tatlı Hayat, Ihlamurlar Altında, Yaprak Dökümü, Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu and Keşanlı Ali Destanı.

His film work gained weight after 2010: Saç, in which he played the lead, earned him the Turkish Film Critics Association's best actor award in 2011, and Aşk ve Devrim brought best supporting actor in Ankara and best actor in İzmir in 2012. His performance in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Kış Uykusu was recognized with a supporting actor award and a Sadri Alışık special jury prize, and he also appeared in Mustang. Because of the interest in Diriliş Ertuğrul there, he visited Pakistan with a delegation in 2020. In October 2021 he announced himself that he had lung cancer; he was buried in Tarsus.

Photos

Ayberk Pekcan Ayberk Pekcan Ayberk Pekcan Ayberk Pekcan

Reactions

You can pick up to 3 reactions.

Their work through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Saç is the place to start with Ayberk Pekcan: he leads Pirselimoğlu's film as Hamdi and carries its weight. In Kış Uykusu he plays Hidayet in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's ensemble, a supporting part that holds its own. Erol in Mustang is a shorter example of the same kind of cinema; together the three show an actor apart from the familiar television type.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

Ayberk Pekcan's Doktor in Kurtlar Vadisi and Şemo in Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu are, in my view, supporting pieces of an action series: the figures who set its pace, like Polat Alemdar, are others. These parts do not test his range. Artuk Bey in Diriliş Ertuğrul gives him a more visible place in historical action.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Ayberk Pekcan's television career runs through stories of class and family: Talat in Yaprak Dökümü, a series about a family caught between traditional values and material temptation, and Ekrem in Ihlamurlar Altında, set in the shadow of a wealthy holding family. In my view these two roles tie him to ordinary figures within a family, where class difference is felt.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes on this person's screen work, written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader comments are below.

Comments