Nilgün Belgün

Nilgün Belgün — Biography

Nilgün Belgün is a well-known name in Turkish comic acting, with a career that runs from cabaret stages to television comedy. Wide audiences first knew her in 1990 as "Gülpembe", the character she played in the Darbukatör Bayram sketch on the programme Bir Başka Gece. Today she continues to perform her one-woman plays on stage while also appearing in film and television.

She spent her childhood on Büyükada and, after Özel Şişli High School, graduated from the voice and theatre department of the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory, taking diction lessons from Yıldız Kenter and Melih Cevdet Anday. In 1973 she went professional at the Devekuşu Cabaret Theatre in the play Haneler, and later worked with the Ali Poyrazoğlu, Levent Kırca and Dormen theatres and Tiyatro İstanbul. On television she stood out with parodies and character sketches on entertainment shows such as İşte Müzik İşte Eğlence and Gece Sefası, hosted programmes on Star TV and TV8, and briefly presented Esra Erol'da as a stand-in. In series and film she appeared in productions such as Bana Şans Dile, Akasya Durağı, Benim Annem Bir Melek, Papatyam and Jet Sosyete.

In 1993 she received Milliyet newspaper's Best TV Comedy Actress award, and for Tepetaklak at Tiyatro İstanbul she collected eight best comedy actress awards in 2006. She has written books including İçimdeki Kadın and Hayatla Geçinmeyi Seçtim, and has staged the one-woman play Aşk ve Komedi, adapted from İçimdeki Kadın, since November 2012. She has also worked on awareness campaigns about menopause and osteoporosis and about Parkinson's disease.