Başar Sabuncu

Başar Sabuncu — Biography

Born Fuat Başar Sabuncu on September 9, 1943 in Istanbul, he became one of the most versatile figures in Turkish theatre and cinema, working as a playwright, screenwriter, director, translator, stage designer and occasional actor. After St. Joseph High School he studied French language and literature at Istanbul University, and was for a time married to the novelist Sevgi Soysal.

From the 1960s he wrote plays that confronted Turkey's social problems, moving from absurdist theatre early in his career to musicals in the 1980s; his play "Kaldırım Serçesi" ("Street Sparrow") is regarded as one of Turkish musical theatre's defining works and continued to be staged and revived years later. In film, he directed and adapted works such as "Çıplak Vatandaş" ("The Naked Citizen"), starring Şener Şen, and "Zengin Mutfağı" ("The Rich One's Kitchen").

Sabuncu died in Istanbul on June 17, 2015, leaving behind a body of directing and screenwriting credits that also includes "Yolcu", "Namuslu", "Asılacak Kadın" and "Kaçamak".