Theater actress Gülriz Sururi dies aged 90

ISTANBUL

Veteran theater actress and director Gülriz Sururi died on Dec. 31. She was 90. 

Speaking to daily Hürriyet, her foster daughter, Zeynep Miraç Özkartal, said, “We followed her will as she wanted a silent funeral ceremony. She wanted us to announce her death after the funeral ceremony. She had been suffering from problems with her digestive system for some time and we lost her yesterday [Dec. 31]. We cannot share any other information out of respect for her will.” 

Born in 1929, Sururi was the daughter of Turkey’s first prima donna Suzan Lûtfullah Sururi and the founder of Turkey’s first operetta Lûtfullah Sururi. She was a graduate of the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory Theater Department. 

She married theater actor Engin Cezzar in 1962, with whom she founded the Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar Theater in the same year. 

In 1971, she won Best Actress Award for the third time for her role in the play “Indian Silk.”