Toto Karaca

Toto Karaca — Biography

Born İrma Felekyan on March 18, 1912, in Istanbul during the Ottoman era, Toto Karaca grew up in an Armenian family and trained in ballet as a child; she performed under the stage name İrma Toto in musical productions.

She appeared in Ömer Aydın's operettas during the 1930s and became one of the best-known comedy and vaudeville performers of the period when Turkish theatre was moving away from the traditional tuluat tradition toward a Western-style stage, as well as a notable character actress in Turkish cinema. She took the surname Karaca after marrying stage actor Mehmet Karaca in 1939, as required by the surname law of the time, and was among the founders of the Istanbul Theatre in 1960. She was the mother of Anatolian rock pioneer Cem Karaca and grandmother of Emrah Karaca.

Toto Karaca died in Istanbul on July 22, 1992, and was buried in the family plot at the Şişli Armenian Cemetery. Her life was later portrayed on screen by actress Yasemin Yalçın in the film Cem Karaca'nın Gözyaşları, about her son's life.