Ferhan Şensoy

Ferhan Şensoy — Biography

Osman Ferhan Şensoy (26 February 1951, Çarşamba, Samsun – 31 August 2021, Fatih, Istanbul) was a Turkish stage, film and television actor, playwright, screenwriter and poet, and the founder of the Ortaoyuncular theatre company. After Galatasaray High School he studied architecture at the State Academy of Fine Arts and trained in theatre at the Strasbourg Conservatory, before launching his professional stage career in 1971 with the Grup Oyuncuları ensemble and later performing with the companies of Ali Poyrazoğlu, Nisa Serezli-Tolga Aşkıner and Ayfer Feray.

In 1980 he founded Ortaoyuncular, staging works such as Şahları da Vururlar and Kahraman Bakkal Süpermarkete Karşı. His one-man show Ferhangi Şeyler, performed without interruption from 1987 until his death, became his signature work; he insisted the piece was distinct from stand-up comedy despite frequently being cited as an influence on the genre. He also inherited the "kavuk," the symbolic headdress associated with the traditional ortaoyunu performer Kel Hasan Efendi, from actor Münir Özkul, later passing it on to Rasim Öztekin.

Beyond the stage, Şensoy wrote novels, essays and diaries and authored numerous television and film screenplays. As a screen actor he appeared in films including Pardon (2005), Şans Kapıyı Kırınca (2005) and Son Ders: Aşk ve Üniversite (2008). He was also known for sharing box-office proceeds with everyone who had contributed to his productions, regardless of how much time had passed, giving him a distinctive standing in Turkish theatre; a documentary about his life premiered in the years following his death.