Gazanfer Özcan

Gazanfer Özcan — Biography

Saim Gazanfer Özcan was born on 27 January 1931 in Istanbul and died in the same city on 17 February 2009. An actor of the theatre, cinema and television, he also worked extensively as a voice artist over a career spanning some 56 years.

He discovered the stage at high school, playing Bican Efendi in the play "Hisse-i Şayia", then joined the children's department of the Istanbul City Theatres before turning professional in the mid-1950s. His screen work began with the 1953 comedy Çeto, and he went on to accumulate well over a hundred film and television credits. He was married to the actress Gönül Ülkü Özcan, and in 1998 he was named a State Artist of Turkey.

To a wide audience he remains best known for two television characters: Hüsnü Kuruntu in Kuruntu Ailesi and Tahsin Sütçüoğlu in Avrupa Yakası (The European Side). On film he played the grandfather in Komser Şekspir (Commissar Shakespeare) and the sultan in Keloğlan vs. the Black Prince; among his final works is the 2007 drama Beyaz Melek (The White Angel).