Cihan Ünal

Cihan Ünal — Biography

Cihan Ünal was born on 22 January 1946 in the Tosya district of Kastamonu to a family of teachers; as a boy he did voice work for Ankara Radio, joined theatre courses at Ankara Halkevi in 1962, and entered Ankara State Conservatory in 1964, graduating in 1969 to join Ankara State Theatre. He made his screen debut in 1971 with Damdaki Kemancı and became known through his second film, the early Turkish horror classic Şeytan (1974). In 1982 he trained in London on a British Council scholarship with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at RADA; later he taught acting for decades at the state conservatories of Mimar Sinan and Hacettepe universities, becoming head of Hacettepe's theatre department in 2001. His stage work brought best-actor honours from the Ankara Sanat Sevenler association in 1972, the Avni Dilligil award in 1997, and the Sadri Alışık award in 1999. He reached wide audiences playing Osman Gazi in the 1987 series Kuruluş / Osmancık, a role he returned to in 2025's Kuruluş Orhan, appearing meanwhile in Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, Söz and Yalnız Kurt. His sister and brother were also performers. He married actress Türkan Şoray, whom he met filming Mine, as his second wife; he has a daughter from his first marriage and a daughter, Yağmur, with Şoray.