Derya Alabora

Derya Alabora — Biography

Born in Istanbul on August 19, 1959 to an opera-singer mother and a primary-school-teacher father, Derya Alabora trained as an actress at the theatre department of Mimar Sinan University's state conservatory. After a brief stint at the Bursa State Theatre, she moved into film, making her screen debut in the 1987 drama Bir Kırık Bebek.

Throughout the 1990s she appeared in films such as Dönersen Islık Çal, Yengeç Sepeti and 80. Adım, before her breakout turn as "Uğur" in Zeki Demirkubuz's Masumiyet (1997). Her performances in both Yengeç Sepeti and Masumiyet earned her Golden Orange awards at the Antalya Film Festival. She went on to appear in Salkım Hanımın Taneleri, Pandora'nın Kutusu and Siyah Beyaz, and expanded into international cinema with Feo Aladağ's When We Leave (2010) and A Most Wanted Man (2014).

Alongside an extensive stage career, Alabora became widely known to television audiences through series such as Şaşıfelek Çıkmazı and İçimizden Biri. She is married to actor-director Uğur Yücel, though in 2024 the couple confirmed they had been living apart while remaining legally married.