Zühal Gencer

Zühal Gencer — Biography

Zühal Gencer Erkaya is a Turkish theatre and film actress born on July 13, 1961, in Istanbul. After training at the Theatre Education Studio, she helped found the Taner Barlas Mim Theatre with Taner Barlas and colleagues in 1984 and performed there for five years. In 1989 she joined the founding of the Bakırköy Municipality Theatre, appearing in the play "Zilli Zarife," and later worked with the Gülriz Sururi Theatre, the Yeditepe Players and the Theatre Studio. In 1997 she was among the founders of the Kocaeli City Theatre, where she continued performing for many years.

Her screen career spans more than three decades. She became widely known for her role in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's 2002 film "Distant" (Uzak), and also appeared in "Sekizinci Saat" (1995), "The Messenger" (Ulak, 2007) and Çağan Irmak's 2013 film "Tamam mıyız?". On television, she is best remembered for playing "İnci" in the series Şaşıfelek Çıkmazı, and later appeared in the 2019 series "Doğduğun Ev Kaderindir".

Balancing stage and screen work throughout her career, Gencer is regarded as a long-standing and respected figure in Turkish film and television.