Ali Poyrazoğlu

Ali Poyrazoğlu — Biography

Ali Poyrazoğlu is one of the most prolific figures of Turkish theatre as actor, writer and director, and became known across the country in the 1970s through the Ali Uyanık character he played on TRT. He received the State Artist title in 1998 and has been a UNICEF Türkiye Goodwill Ambassador since November 2012.

His path began at the Istanbul City Theatres; he then acted with the Dormen Theatre, Kent Players, the Ulvi Uraz Theatre and the Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar Theatre, and also translated a Pirandello play. In 1972 he founded a theatre under his own name. He describes the TRT years, when he played sitcom-style sketches live on air, as a school for him. In the 1980s he took part in musicals and in Yeşil Kabare, and he is also known for giving younger performers a stage. From the 2000s he appeared in plays such as Bizim Sınıf, Asi Kuş, Tamamla Bizi Ey Aşk and Tak Tak Takıntı, some of which he wrote and directed himself. In 2012 he conducted excerpts from Carmen with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra.

He entered cinema in 1970 and, after appearing in many films in the mid-1970s, stayed away from Yeşilçam until returning in 1986 with Asiye Nasıl Kurtulur?. For Arkadaşım Şeytan he was named Best Supporting Actor at the 1989 Ankara Film Festival, and for 9 Best Actor at the Sadri Alışık Awards in 2003. Ayın Karanlık Yüzü and Erkekler are also among his films, and he has voiced Turkish versions of animations such as the Ice Age series and Kung Fu Panda 3.