Ahmet Arıman

Ahmet Arıman — Biography

Ahmet Arıman is the actor who played Hayta İsmail, one of Turkish cinema's best-loved characters. The Hababam Sınıfı series introduced him to a wide audience in the mid-1970s, and more than half a century later the press still remembers him by that role. Alongside acting he works as a musician, playing the organ and singing at venues in İstanbul.

His first phase belongs to Yeşilçam. He played Hayta İsmail from Hababam Sınıfı (1975) onwards, through Hababam Sınıfı Sınıfta Kaldı, Hababam Sınıfı Uyanıyor, Hababam Sınıfı Tatilde and Hababam Sınıfı Dokuz Doğuruyor, and has said he landed the part while doing military service. In those years he also appeared in Bizim Aile, Gülen Gözler and Neşeli Günler, followed by Keriz in 1985. The second phase opened with television: İkinci Bahar and Hayalköy, then the four-season Büyük Buluşma, Öyle Bir Geçer Zaman ki, Galip Derviş, Filinta and Paramparça.

In recent years the series has come back to him: he returned to the big screen in Hababam Sınıfı Yeniden (2019) and Sürmeli (2025), and joined the cast of Gelsin Hayat Bildiği Gibi in 2022. In 2024 he won 30,000 lira on the quiz show Kim Milyoner Olmak İster.