Uğur Yücel

Uğur Yücel — Biography

Uğur Yücel graduated from the theatre department of the Istanbul Municipality Conservatory and, while still a student there, began performing solo shows in 1977; between 1975 and 1984 he took roles at companies including the Kenter Theatre, Tef Kabare and the Dormen Theatre, and in the early 1990s built a following for his political impressions and stand-up sets.

He moved into film in 1984 with Fahriye Abla, drew notice opposite Şener Şen in Muhsin Bey (1987) and in Ertem Eğilmez's final film Arabesk that same year, then reached broad mainstream success with Eşkıya in 1996. He crossed to television in 1994 with Aziz Ahmet, later directing Karanlıkta Koşanlar and helping write Alacakaranlık, and his 2004 film Yazı Tura took eleven prizes at the Antalya festival. He kept up a long run of series work in Familya, Aramızda Kalsın, Aşk ve Ceza and İçerde, where he played Kudret Sönmez, and published a short-story collection, Yağmur Kesiği, in 2013. More recently he has appeared in Halef: Köklerin Çağrısı and in Eşref Rüya, a spin-off of Mehmed: Fetihler Sultanı. In 2024 he and his wife, actress Derya Alabora, said they were living apart though not legally divorced.