Haldun Dormen

Haldun Dormen — Biography

Ahmet Haldun Dormen (5 April 1928, Mersin – 21 January 2026, Istanbul) was born into a Turkish Cypriot family that soon settled in Istanbul's Şişli district. After schooling at Galatasaray High School and Robert College, he studied theatre in the United States, earning a graduate degree at Yale and gaining stage and directing experience at American theatres and the Pasadena Playhouse. Back in Istanbul he joined Muhsin Ertuğrul's Küçük Sahne company before founding his own Dormen Theatre in 1955.

Known for comedy and vaudeville, Dormen staged Turkey's first Western-style musical, Irma la Douce, in 1961, and directed musicals such as Hisseli Harikalar Kumpanyası and Şen Sazın Bülbülleri in the 1980s. His 1985 production of Lüküs Hayat for the Istanbul City Theatres ran to sold-out houses for thirty years. He also acted on screen, in films such as Hüdaverdi-Pırtık and Yeşil Işık and series including Dadı and Sayın Bakanım; he was honored with the State Artist title and was married to journalist Betül Mardin.

Dormen died in Istanbul on 21 January 2026 at 97 and was given a public farewell ceremony. In his memory, the Turkish Theatre Festival in Frankfurt was dedicated to him, and actor Zafer Algöz became the first recipient of the newly established Haldun Dormen Special Award in the same city.