Tuncay Akça

Tuncay Akça — Biography

Born on 16 December 1963 in Kastamonu, Tuncay Akça made his screen debut in the mid-1970s with the film Bizim Aile and went on to appear in more than 100 films and television productions over a career spanning roughly 47 years, becoming a familiar face of Turkish popular cinema. At age 12 he played the laughing child nicknamed "Bacaksız" in the Hababam Sınıfı film series, a role that, together with his catchphrase asking why his teacher stood on one leg every morning, made him a household name across generations.

Akça took the lead role in the 1980 film Bebek and also appeared as Yusuf in Yılmaz Güney's Yol, the film that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. On television he reached a wide audience playing the grocer Manav Adem in the long-running series Bizimkiler between 1995 and 2002. Beyond acting, he was politically active, running for a municipal council seat in Ümraniye in 2004 and for mayor of Sancaktepe (Samandıra) in the 2009 local elections, and he joined the İYİ Parti in 2022.

Tuncay Akça died in Istanbul on 17 August 2024, and his death was widely mourned across the Turkish film industry.