Kemal Sunal
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Ali Kemal Sunal (11 November 1944 – 3 July 2000) was a Turkish actor and comedian. With ''
Hababam Sınıfı ''Hababam Sınıfı'' (The Chaos Class) is a 1975 Turkish comedy film, directed by Ertem Eğilmez based on a novel by Rıfat Ilgaz, featuring an ensemble cast including Kemal Sunal, Tarık Akan and Münir Özkul that tells the adventures of a pri ...
'', ''
Kapıcılar Kralı ''King of the Doormen'', ( tr, Kapıcılar Kralı), is a 1976 Turkish comedy film featuring Kemal Sunal, Sevda Ferdağ, Bilge Zobu and Şevket Altuğ, produced by Arif and Abdurrahman Keskiner and, directed by Zeki Ökten. The movie is the third ...
'' and '' Davaro'', Sunal gained large popularity amongst Turkish cinema goers and was famed for his character "Şaban", a role he frequently played.


Career

Kemal Sunal graduated from
Vefa Lisesi Vefa High School ( tr, Vefa Lisesi), is one of the oldest and internationally renowned high school of Turkey. The first ''mülkiye lisesi'' (non-military high school) training in Turkish language was Vefa Lisesi (established in 1872) which forming ...
(Vefa High School). In his early ages, he started pursuing what was to become a long and successful acting career in minor roles in various theatres. For a brief period, he worked in the Kenterler Theatre and debuted in the play ''Zoraki Tabip''. He was later transferred to the Devekuşu Kabare Theatre, where he performed his acting. He was recognized as a real talent, and started receiving offers for movies with larger budgets and a more famous cast. His first bigger role was in the film "
Tatlı Dillim ''Tatlı Dillim'' ( tr, "Sweet Talker") is a 1972 Turkish romantic comedy film starring Tarık Akan and Filiz Akın, written and directed by Ertem Eğilmez. It is also the first ever film for Kemal Sunal although his role is a very small one. Ca ...
" directed by
Ertem Eğilmez Ertem Eğilmez (18 February 1929, in Trabzon – 21 September 1989, in Istanbul, Turkey) was a Turkish film director, producer and screenwriter. He is known as the name behind some of the most popular films in Turkish film history. Many of these we ...
. In a matter of years, Sunal co-starred alongside
Halit Akçatepe Halit Akçatepe (1 January 1938 – 31 March 2017) was a Turkish actor.Hal ...
,
Şener Şen Şener Şen (born 26 December 1941) is a Turkish film and theatre actor who has won the Golden Orange for Best Actor twice for his roles in '' Mr. Muhsin'' (1985) and '' Lovelorn'' (2005), the Golden Orange for Best Supporting Actor for '' Çö ...
and
Münir Özkul Münir Özkul (15 August 1925 – 5 January 2018) was a Turkish cinema and theatre actor. He has been awarded the title of "State Artist of Turkey". In 1972, he won a Golden Orange Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Sev Kardeşim' ...
. Perhaps the most famous of all his parts was when he played in ''
Hababam Sınıfı ''Hababam Sınıfı'' (The Chaos Class) is a 1975 Turkish comedy film, directed by Ertem Eğilmez based on a novel by Rıfat Ilgaz, featuring an ensemble cast including Kemal Sunal, Tarık Akan and Münir Özkul that tells the adventures of a pri ...
'' (The Outrageous Class) and was known by the name of "Şaban", but most of his classmates just called him ''İnek'' (cow) Şaban. İnek Şaban was constantly bullied and humiliated by his friends, but this never kept him from thinking the unthinkable, like digging a tunnel to escape school grounds (which later, turned out to lead to the vice-principal’s office) or smoking in the school attic. The character was so pure and so fixed in the memories of the Turkish people, it was never replaced by another actor in the recent re-shootings of ''Hababam Sınıfı'', most probably as a sign of respect to Sunal. His other notable characters include: Tosun Pasha; Süt Kardeş
Şaban Şaban, the Turkish is a popular cinema character, portrayed by Turkish actor Kemal Sunal. Both figures rose to fame hand in hand, as the commoner clean-hearted looks of Şaban on the screen became very popular among Turkish citizens, and the tw ...
; Çöpçüler Kralı, who fell in love with a municipality officer’s fiancée; Doktor Civanım, a former hospital janitor pretending to be a doctor upon his return to his home village; and finally "'' Orta Direk Şaban''", a naive man trying to become an athlete to impress his crush. The huge popularity of his movies stemmed not only from their unique humour but also their depiction of the many problems faced by the poor rural people in Turkey during the 1970s and 1980s. In almost all of his films, Kemal Sunal plays a poor man, trying to make a living. Sunal’s last film was ''Propaganda'', which was directed by
Sinan Çetin Sinan Çetin (born March 1, 1953) is a Turkish film director, actor, and producer. He won the best director award at the 12th Dhaka International Film Festival. Çetin was born as one of the eight children of a customs officer. He is of matern ...
. Sunal, played a customs officer-in-charge (presumably) on the
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
n border. Being a serious drama, this film was a contrast to his other works. As the plot unfolded, Sunal’s character fell into despair, trying to survive the dilemma between his duties as an officer of the law and his duties as a friend. In the public opinion, this film was not the best of his works. Another significant fact about this film is that it also included Ali Sunal, Kemal Sunal’s son, cast as a junior customs officer.


Personal life

Sunal kept himself and his family away from the media and rarely appeared in public. People who knew him have commented on how serious he was in his real life, in contrast to the funny characters he played in his movies. Whilst he was at the top of his career, he decided to finish
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
, which he had dropped out of in his early career. Despite his fame, he attended the university like a regular student and stated that "that was the way he liked it to be". Sunal's dreams of higher-education were disrupted in 1980, during the period of military takeover. His attempts to earn a degree finally paid off in 1995, when he earned his
bachelor’s degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six y ...
in Radio Television and Cinema Studies from
Marmara University Marmara University ( Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a public university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university is named after the Sea of Marmara and was founded as a university in 1982. However, it was created in 1883 under the name of ''H ...
. He then decided to pursue a master’s degree (the topic of this thesis being himself), which he earned in 1998, also from Marmara University. This incident was covered by the media with headlines like "İnek Şaban Master Yaptı" (Şaban the Geek got a master's degree) while his 'classmates' from Hababam Sinifi made comments like "Profesorluk Bekliyoruz" ("We expect full professorship"). At his graduation ceremony, he made a speech joking that his path of first working and then attending university later in life was better as it allowed him to gain real life experience first.


Death

Kemal Sunal died on July 3, 2000, as a result of a sudden
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
aboard a flight to
Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...
just before take-off. He was reported to be afraid of flying. His death caused mourning that swept the entire nation and dominated news coverage for many days. He was interred at the
Zincirlikuyu Cemetery __NOTOC__ The Zincirlikuyu Cemetery ( tr, Zincirlikuyu Mezarlığı) is a modern burial ground residing on the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. It is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality. Many prominent figures from the world of polit ...
in Istanbul. Kemal Sunal and his wife Gül Sunal (born 1957) had two children, Ali Sunal (born 1977) and Ezo Sunal (born 1985).


Filmography


Films


Television


Awards

* 1977: 14. Antalya Film Şenliği (14th Antalya Film Festival), Best Actor,
Kapıcılar Kralı ''King of the Doormen'', ( tr, Kapıcılar Kralı), is a 1976 Turkish comedy film featuring Kemal Sunal, Sevda Ferdağ, Bilge Zobu and Şevket Altuğ, produced by Arif and Abdurrahman Keskiner and, directed by Zeki Ökten. The movie is the third ...
* 1998: 35. Antalya Film Şenliği (35th Antalya Film Festival), Lifetime honorary award,
Kapıcılar Kralı ''King of the Doormen'', ( tr, Kapıcılar Kralı), is a 1976 Turkish comedy film featuring Kemal Sunal, Sevda Ferdağ, Bilge Zobu and Şevket Altuğ, produced by Arif and Abdurrahman Keskiner and, directed by Zeki Ökten. The movie is the third ...
* 1989: 2. Ankara Film Şenliği (2nd Ankara Film Festival), Best Actor, Düttürü Dünya


Books


See also

*
Şener Şen Şener Şen (born 26 December 1941) is a Turkish film and theatre actor who has won the Golden Orange for Best Actor twice for his roles in '' Mr. Muhsin'' (1985) and '' Lovelorn'' (2005), the Golden Orange for Best Supporting Actor for '' Çö ...
*
Nazan Saatci Nazan Saatci (born June 22, 1958) is a Turkish actress. She is known for her performances in ''Tokatçi'' (1983), ''Ölümsüz'' (1982), and ''Hulchal'' (1985). She was the second runner-up in Miss Asia Pacific beauty pageant in 1983. Early ...
, from movie ''Tokatçı'' (1983)


References


Further reading

*Gül Sunal, ''Kemal Hadi Gel, Bi Kahve İçelim'', Doğan Kitap, *Feriha Karasu Gürses, ''Kemal Sunal Film Başka Yaşam Başka'', Sel Yayınları, Istanbul 2002, *Nuran Turan, ''Kemal Sunal Çocukken'', Önel Yayınevi, *Vadullah Taş, ''Kemal Sunal Filmlerini Anlatıyor'', Esen Kitap


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sunal, Kemal 1944 births 2000 deaths Turkish male film actors Male actors from Istanbul Turkish male stage actors Turkish comedians Best Actor Golden Orange Award winners Vefa High School alumni Marmara University alumni Burials at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery Golden Orange Life Achievement Award winners 20th-century Turkish male actors 20th-century comedians