Semra Dinçer

Semra Dinçer — Biography

Semra Dinçer was an actress and screenwriter who came up through the theatre and the screen without attending drama school, what Turkish calls an "alaylı" performer. Most viewers know her as Handan Tekinoğlu in Kuzey Güney; she spent most of her working life on stage, television and in film, and died in Istanbul in 2021.

She first appeared on stage in 1980 at the Ankara Sanat Evi. Her first screen work, in 1984, was the TRT series Köşe Dönücü, directed by Ferhan Şensoy, where she had a leading role. She also wrote sketches for Levent Kırca's programme Olacak O Kadar, contributed to the scripts of some films and series, and was among the founding members of the Actors' Union. In the 2000s she appeared in series such as Yılan Hikayesi, Kaybolan Yıllar and Kavak Yelleri and in the film Filler ve Çimen. Kuzey Güney, which began in 2011, gave her the most recognised role of her career; she was also in Dinle Sevgili, and later in Görüş Günü Kadınları, Emanet, İstanbullu Gelin and Vuslat, and played Nermin in the film Ağır Romantik (2019).

She took part in more than forty-two films and series and wrote the screenplays of seven films. She died of lung cancer on 1 November 2021 at the age of 56 and was buried in the Osmaniye Village Cemetery in Ankara's Sincan district.