Erdoğan Atalay (born 22 September 1966) is a German actor. He is known for his role as police detective Semir Gerkhan in ''
Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei''.
Early life and career
Atalay was born in
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
,
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, to a Turkish father and German mother. He was a member of the Theater-AG at the IGS Garbsen. At age 18, he made his first appearance as a supporting role in "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp" at the National Theatre of Hanover before studying acting at the
Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg
The Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg is one of the larger universities of music in Germany.
It was founded 1950 as ''Staatliche Hochschule für Musik'' (Public college of music) on the base of the former private acting school of Annem ...
. Afterwards he took on guest roles in several German television series such as ''Music Groschenweise'', ''Einsatz für Lohbeck'', ''Doppelter Einsatz'' and ''Die Wache''.
In March 1996, Action Concept cast Atalay in what would become his breakthrough role, starring as Semir Gerkhan, a police detective of Turkish origin. Atalay co-wrote the screenplay for one of the series' episodes, titled "Checkmate," and is a consulting producer for the series as of 2016. In 2005, Atalay published a short story, "Die Türkei ist da oben" ("Turkey is Up There"), in the German-Turkish anthology ''Was lebbt du?''. In September 2012 he shot together with Ilka Bessin (Cindy from Marzahn) the short film "Alarm for Cindy 11", a parody of Alarm for Cobra 11. The short film was broadcast on September 15, 2012 in the program.
Personal life
Atalay's first marriage was to film and theatre actress Astrid Pollmann in 2004; the couple separated in late 2009. They have one daughter, Pauletta, who has also starred alongside her father in ''Alarm für Cobra 11'' as Ayda Gerkhan, the middle child of Semir Gerkhan. His second child was born in mid-2012 to makeup artist and manager Katja Ohneck, with whom he is married as of 2017.
Filmography
Film
*1997: Sperling und der falsche Freund
*1998: Der Clown
*2000: Liebe Pur
*2002:
*2006: Hammer und Hart
*2011: Geister all inclusive
*2015: Macho Man
*2018: Asphaltgorillas
TV
*1990: Musik Groschenweise
*1994: Die Wache
*1995: Doppelter Einsatz
*1996–present:
Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei
''Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei'' ("Alarm for Cobra 11 – The Highway Police") is a long-running, popular German television series about a two-man team of highway police (Autobahnpolizei), originally set in Berlin and since 1999 i ...
*1999–2000: Hinter Gittern – Der Frauenknast (3 episodes)
*2003:
*2010: C.I.S. – Chaoten im Sondereinsatz
*2012: SOKO 5113
*2012: Cindy aus Marzahn und die jungen Wilden
*2013: Mordkommission Istanbul
*2016: SOKO Stuttgart – Fluch des Geldes
*since 2019: Die Martina Hill Show (7 episodes, ''Alarm für Mutti 11'')
Theatre
*1984: Aladdin and the Magic Lamp (Staatstheater Hannover)
References
External links
*
Official MySpace
1966 births
German male stage actors
German male television actors
Living people
German people of Turkish descent
Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg alumni
20th-century German male actors
21st-century German male actors
{{Germany-stage-actor-stub