Perihan Savaş

Perihan Savaş — Biography

Perihan Savaş's birth name was Şerife Perihan (SinemaTürk gives Şerife Tarhan); she was born on 14 June in Istanbul's Fatih district, though sources place the year anywhere from 1955 to 1957. Her family originally comes from Sürmene in Trabzon. At five she took the stage in the children's wing of the Istanbul City Theatres, at thirteen she was engaged to a twenty-two-year-old military school student in a marriage that lasted six or seven months, and she performed in plays such as Küçük Prenses and Romeo and Juliet up to 1970.

She crossed into film in 1971 with Şehzade Sinbad Kaf Dağında and quickly became a leading lady; her performance in Bedrana (1974) won her best actress at the 11th Antalya Film Festival, and she co-starred with Kemal Sunal in comedies such as Keriz. She appeared in nearly 120 productions in all, also spent time as a singer and television presenter, and returned to the stage with Istanbul City Theatre productions of Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz and Bir Kış Öyküsü in the 2000s.

She married İbrahim Tatlıses and then Yılmaz Zafer, having one child from each marriage; she cared for Zafer through his illness and was widowed after his death. More recently she played Sultan Koçovalı in Çukur, then appeared in Elkızı and Sahtekarlar, and in 2026 was reported cast to play Emine Erdoğan in an upcoming project.