Meltem Cumbul

Meltem Cumbul — Biography

Meltem Cumbul (born 5 November 1969 in İzmir) is a Turkish film and television actress, presenter and acting teacher. Working in television and cinema since the early 1990s, Cumbul is one of the well-known faces of Turkish screens.

She graduated from the Theatre Department of the State Conservatory of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and gained stage experience while still a student. She stepped into television in the early 1990s, appearing in productions such as Mahallenin Muhtarları (1992) and İnsanlık Hali (1993), and became one of the popular screen faces of the years when private television was on the rise. Her first experience in front of a film camera was Bir Sonbahar Hikâyesi (1994), a Yavuz Özkan work.

In the second half of the 1990s she played Papatya in Bay E (1995); she took part in the films Böcek (1995) and Usta Beni Öldürsene (1996) and in the series Çiçek Taksi (1995), Sahte Dünyalar (1995) and Tatlı Kaçıklar (1996). She played Emel in Karışık Pizza (1998). 1999 was one of the turning points of her career: she played Filiz in Propaganda and Nazan Korkmaz in Duruşma, and she acted for three seasons in Yılan Hikayesi, which began the same year.

In the 2000s she played Elmas Mağden in the series Beşik Kertmesi (2002), Nimet in the film Abdülhamid Düşerken (2002) and Elif in the series Gurbet Kadını (2003); she also appeared in Biz Size Aşık Olduk (2002). The films Duvara Karşı (2004) and Gönül Yarası (2004) are among the best-known productions of her career; in Gönül Yarası she played Dünya. Besides acting she has also worked as a presenter; the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 is among her notable works.

In 2008 she appeared in the films Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi: Aşkın Dansı, A Beautiful Life and The Alphabet Killer, and in the series Aşk Yakar the same year. In the following period she was seen in the series Nuri (2011) and as Reyhan in the film Labirent (2011); she acted in the fourth season of Muhteşem Yüzyıl (2013) and in Kusursuz Plan (2014). She played Gülay in Kadın İşi Banka Soygunu (2014) and Leyla in Yaktın Beni (2015). In 2024 it was announced that she would share the lead with Halil Ergün in Güzel Aşklar Diyarı, a series prepared by Mahsun Kırmızıgül.

She has also been involved in teaching acting; in 2017 she held an acting workshop based on the Eric Morris system at the Boğaziçi Art Centre.