Celile Toyon

Celile Toyon — Biography

Celile Toyon is a stage, film and television actress born in Istanbul on 3 October 1944. She studied at the Harbiye Private Art School and then graduated from the theatre department of the Istanbul Conservatory. She first acted as an amateur in 1962, and in the mid-1960s appeared with the Ankara Sanat Tiyatrosu in productions such as Gorky's Küçük Burjuvalar, Gogol's Müfettiş and Orhan Kemal's 72. Koğuş. She also worked with the Arena, Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar, Dormen and Dostlar companies, and performed in radio drama.

While a member of the Istanbul City Theatre, she was removed from her post under Law 1402 after the military coup of 12 September 1980, and was later reinstated by a ruling of the Council of State. At the City Theatre she played in Hepsi Oğlumdu, III. Richard and İyi Geceler Anne, among others. Her performance in Hadi Öldürsene Canikom earned her the 2005 Afife and Sadri Alışık awards for best actress in a musical or comedy, and in 2017 she received the Çolpan İlhan award honouring women who add value to the arts. She was married to fellow actor Ersan Uysal.

Her screen debut came in 1977 with İbo ile Güllüşah, followed by a large number of films through the 1980s. Her first notable television role was in Üç İstanbul (1983). Later work includes the films Çınar Ağacı and 7. Koğuştaki Mucize and the series Kalbim Ege'de Kaldı and Terzi; she became most widely known as Hasibe Ana in Vatanım Sensin.