Jay Gillespie

Born in Istanbul in 1946, he began his theater career at the Istanbul City Theatres. He acted in numerous plays, including those by Dormen Theatre, Kent Oyuncuları, Ulvi Uraz Theatre, and Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar Theatre. In 1972, he founded the Ali Poyrazoğlu Theatre. He played the leading role in English in the play *Pera*, which was staged on Broadway in New York. He started his film career in 1970. However, in the mid-1970s, he participated in the Turkish cinema's sex film boom. Within just two years, he acted in films such as *Hop Dedik Kazım*, *Kadınlar Hayır Derse*, *Çapkın Kızlar*, *Canavar Cafer*, *Deli Deli Tepeli*, *Çukulata Sevgilim*, *Kazıma Ne Lazım*, *Beş Atış Yirmibeş*, *Bir Baba Hindi*, *Çılgın Gençlik*, *Çilli Yavrum Çilli*, *Çin İşi Japon İşi*, *Elma Şekeri*, *Kokla Beni Melahat*, *Bulunmaz Uşak*, *Kayıkçının Küreği*, *Çifte Kavrulmuş*, *Mahallede Şenlik Var*, *Namus Belası*, and *Ne Alsan İki Buçuk*. Later, he completely withdrew from Yeşilçam. After a long break, he returned to cinema in 1988 with the film *Arkadaşım Şeytan*. In this comedy, which he starred in alongside Mazhar Alanson and which caused quite a stir at the time, he played the role of Satan. For *Arkadaşım Şeytan*, he won the Best Supporting Actor award at the 2nd Ankara Film Festival in 1989; and for his role in *Dokuz*, he won the Best Actor award at the 8th Sadri Alışık Awards in 2003. In 1998, he received the title of State Artist from the Ministry of Culture.