Meral Okay

Meral Okay — Biography

Born Meral Katı, Meral Okay was born in Ankara on 20 September 1959, the second child of Türkan and Ata Katı. After finishing high school she spent five years as a civil servant, and during the 12 September coup era she was a member of the Workers' Party of Turkey and a union representative at her workplace. Moving to Istanbul, she worked at the newspaper Günaydın, helped establish the publishing house İletişim, and wrote song lyrics with Sezen Aksu. In 1984 she married actor-director Yaman Okay, who died of cancer in 1993. She became known through producing the series İkinci Bahar, made her own acting debut in 1992 in Seni Seviyorum Rosa, and won best supporting actress awards for her roles in Hiçbiryerde (2001) and Beynelmilel (2006). In her final years she wrote the early episodes of Muhteşem Yüzyıl; while still working on it, she died of lung cancer on 9 April 2012 and was buried beside her husband at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery. Her wish to leave her estate to the Nesin Mathematics Village was not upheld by her heirs, so friends organized a fundraising campaign for the village instead.