Yılmaz Erdoğan

Yılmaz Erdoğan is one of Turkey’s most influential entertainers: an actor, director, screenwriter and poet, famous for the record-breaking comedy Vizontele (2001), the TV sketch series Bir Demet Tiyatro and as the founder of BKM, the company behind many of Turkey’s biggest comedies. He was born on 4 November 1967 in Hakkari and grew up in Ankara before moving to Istanbul.

Early career

Erdoğan dropped out of civil engineering at Istanbul Technical University in 1987 to pursue theatre. He joined Ferhan Şensoy’s Nöbetçi Tiyatrosu, founded his own company Güldüşündürü in 1988 with his play Kanuni Sultan Süleyman ve Rambo, and became head writer of the long-running sketch show Olacak O Kadar.

BKM and television

In 1994 he co-founded the Beşiktaş Cultural Centre (BKM), which became a launchpad for a generation of comedians, including Cem Yılmaz and the team behind Çok Güzel Hareketler Bunlar. His sketch series Bir Demet Tiyatro (1995–2002, 2006–2007) is a classic of Turkish TV.

Film

His directing debut Vizontele (2001), a comedy about the arrival of television in a small town, broke box-office records and was followed by Vizontele Tuuba. His other films include Organize İşler, Neşeli Hayat, Kelebeğin Rüyası (Turkey’s Oscar submission, 2013), Ekşi Elmalar and Tatlım Tatlım. Internationally he won Best Supporting Actor at the AACTA Awards for Russell Crowe’s The Water Diviner (2014).

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