Özge Ulusoy (born October 28, 1982) is a Turkish actress, model, former

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

and beauty pageant titleholder. She is best known for her appearance in the popular

TV-series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platfo ...

Arka Sokaklar ''Arka Sokaklar'' (English: ''Back Streets'') is a television crime series that was broadcast on Kanal D on 31 July 2006. In its 19 consecutive seasons the series has become a success story with its TV ratings despite being criticized for contin ...

'' from 2006 to 2009. As a model, she walked the runways for

Hussein Chalayan Hussein Chalayan, (; ; born 12 August 1970) is a British-Cypriot fashion designer. He has won the British Designer of the Year twice (in 1999 and 2000), and he was awarded the MBE in 2006. Chalayan is currently teaching at HTW Berlin. Ea ...

Mavi Jeans Mavi is a Turkish brand of denim and jeans founded in 1991 in Istanbul, Turkey. The company manufactures jeans for both women and men, targeting a younger age group. The global operation is headquartered in Turkey, with subsidiaries in the USA, Ca ...

, Mudo,

Hervé Léger Hervé Léger () is a French fashion house that was founded by the designer Hervé Peugnet, who was also known as Hervé L. Leroux. As of 2023, the creative director is American designer Michelle Ochs. History Hervé Léger was founded in 19 ...

Balenciaga Balenciaga SA ( , , ) is a Spanish Basque luxury fashion house currently headquartered in Paris. It designs, manufactures and markets ready-to-wear footwear, handbags, and accessories, and licenses its name and branding to the American cosmeti ...

, Eva Gronbach, Guy Laroche,

Emanuel Ungaro Emanuel Ungaro (13 February 1933 – 21 December 2019) was a French fashion designer who founded his eponymous fashion house in 1965. Early life Ungaro's Italian father fled to France from Francavilla Fontana of Brindisi province because of t ...

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Dior, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained promi ...

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

Harvey Nichols Harvey Nichols Group Limited ( trading as Harvey Nichols) is a British luxury department store chain founded in 1831 by Benjamin Harvey; it is headquartered at its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. It sells designer fashion collections ...

Mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

, etc. She held the first runner-up title for the annual beauty pageant Miss Turkey in 2003.Second runner-up titleholder for the Elite Model Look Özge Ulusoy wins the Miss Turkey Universe tiara in 2003
/ref> In 2002, Ulusoy finished third in Elite Model Management's

Elite Model Look Elite Model Look (formerly known as Look of the Year from 1983 to 1995) is a yearly fashion modeling event held by Elite Model Management, an international model management group. It is used to discover and launch female fashion models in the in ...

competition, took second place the following year in the Miss Turkey competition, and won the Miss Turkey Universe 2003 title before signing with Uğurkan Erez Model Management in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. Since her debut, Ulusoy has been the face of a variety of advertising campaigns in Turkey.

Early life and career

Özge Ulusoy was born on October 28, 1982, in Ankara, the youngest and second of two children of H. Ulusoy, a retired chief military justice of

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Turkish Army, Land Forces, the Turkish Navy, Naval Forces and the Turkish Air Force, Air Forces. The Chief of ...

, and Armağan (née ?), a former

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

. Ulusoy was raised a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. She has an elder sister, Associate Professor Nilay Ulusoy, an

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. Accor ...

in Bahçeşehir University and

Marmara University Marmara University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university, named after the Sea of Marmara, was founded as a university in 1982. However, its ...

and an alumna of Sorbonne.

Education

A native of

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, Turkey, Özge Ulusoy is a graduate of

faculty of fine arts Faculty or faculties may refer to: Academia * Faculty (academic staff), professors, researchers, and teachers of a given university or college (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a large department of a university by field of study (us ...

Hacettepe University Hacettepe University () is a public research university in Ankara, Turkey. It was established on 8 July 1967. It is ranked first among the Turkish universities by University Ranking by Academic Performance in 2021. The university has two main c ...

Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (, or MSGSÜ) is a public art university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university's campus is located in the Fındıklı, Beyoğlu. The university was established in 1882 under the leadership of Osman Hamdi Bey. Hi ...

and

Yeditepe University Yeditepe University () is a private non-profit university situated in Istanbul, Turkey. Established by the Istanbul Education and Culture Foundation ('', İSTEK Vakfı'') in 1996, Yeditepe University now claims to be the largest of the 74 priva ...

, where she had

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as en pointe, pointe work, turnout (ballet), turnout of the legs, ...

course and

arts administration Arts administration (alternatively arts management) is a field in the arts sector that facilitates programming within cultural organizations. Arts administrators are responsible for facilitating the day-to-day operations of the organization as we ...

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

. She passed her conservatory examinations to be accepted into these most considerable ballet schools at the age of 12. She has first studied in

, two years later she transferred to

in Istanbul.

Career

Miss Turkey

Later in 2003, after holding the first runner-up for the Miss Turkey 2003 title she entered

where she majored in

Arts administration Arts administration (alternatively arts management) is a field in the arts sector that facilitates programming within cultural organizations. Arts administrators are responsible for facilitating the day-to-day operations of the organization as we ...

with a specialty in

. In 2011, she finished fifth in '' Survivor: Ünlüler vs. Gönüllüler'', the fifth season of

Show TV Show TV is a Turkish free-to-air national television channel, established in 1991 by Erol Aksoy, Dinç Bilgin, Haldun Simavi and Erol Simavi, owned by the Can Holding. History The channel replaces Cine5's now-defunct frequencies, and it was ...

's Turkish version of the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

'', produced by Acun Media.

Yok Böyle Dans

In 2011, after heating up the stage on ''Yok Böyle Dans''—the Turkish version of ''

Dancing With the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''—for weeks, Ulusoy won the show, along with her professional partner Vitali Kozmin. Subsequently, she acted in Show TV's comic science fiction series ''Ha Babam Uzay''. She was cast as HRH The Princess Alev in ''Türk'ün Uzayla İmtihanı'' that was the identical successor of ''Ha Babam Uzay''. She also hosted the backstage of ''Bugün Ne Giysem?'' which is a fashion competition on

for one season before she became a judge on the show in 2012. Later that same year, she appeared as a special guest star in the thirty fourth episode of the

Kanal D Kanal D (English: Channel D) is a nationwide television channel in Turkey that is part of Demirören Group. It was founded by Ayhan Şahenk and Aydın Doğan in 1993. The network has also run an international channel, Euro D, since 1996, whic ...

series '' Yalan Dünya'' as herself.

Personal life

Ulusoy had been in a relationship with Hacı Sabancı, a member of the fourth generation of the renowned

Sabancı family The Sabancı family is one of the wealthiest families in Turkey. The family's main business entity was founded by Hacı Ömer Sabancı in the 1930s. Hacı Ömer Sabancı, the progenitor of the Sabancı family, moved from his native Kayseri to Ada ...

, since August 2011. However, they broke up in 2017.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulusoy, Ozge 1982 births Hacettepe University alumni Living people Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University alumni Miss Universe 2003 contestants People from Ankara Turkish ballerinas Turkish ballet dancers Turkish beauty pageant winners Turkish female models Turkish film actresses Yeditepe University alumni Turkish television actresses