Meli Bendeli

Meli Bendeli — Biography

Meli Bendeli, born Ahmet Melih Yılmaz in 1989 in Ankara, graduated from Ankara University's DTCF Theatre Department and built a reputation as an experienced stage actor, drawing praise for her performance in the play Woyzeck Masalı, directed by Erdal Beşikçioğlu. From 2010 she also began appearing in film and television, playing Nuri in Abluka, Osman in Daha and Cihan in Körfez, and appearing in the 2015 series Hatırla Gönül.

In 2018 she began playing the character Timsah Celil in the series Çukur, though she later left the show. She took the role of Şinasi in Cam Tavanlar, which ended in 2021, and that same year starred in the Tatbikat Sahnesi production of Miriam Yasta. In January 2022 she came out as a transgender woman and adopted the name Meli Bendeli; she later said that a role she had been given on the Netflix series Şahmaran was withdrawn after a costume fitting in which she wore a skirt.

She has spoken publicly about facing exclusion in the industry since her transition, and in November 2025 said that financial hardship had led her into sex work.