Fatma Girik

Actress, politician (b.. Born in Sultanahmet / Istanbul, on December 12th, 1943 - d. 24 January 2022, Istanbul). Her mother was Münevver Girik, and father was Hayri Girik. She left Cağaloğlu Kız High School at seventh grade. As to some written resources, she finished the school; but it is known that she had to leave the secondary school to support her family financially. She started to take small roles together with her mother in movies. After performing in small roles; firstly, she starred as leading actress with a small town story named “Leke” in 1958. After having taken the leading role on the film “Leke”, written and directed by Seyfi Havaeri; she took supporting roles in a few unimportant movies. She attracted attention with her succeeding performance in Memduh Ün’s “Ölüm Peşimizde” in 1960. 

Fatma Girik secured her position in film sector with “Ölüm Peşimizde”. As the sister of an evil elder brother; she ranked among the most admired stars of the Turkish cinema with the support of the Turkish director Memduh Ün. Even though she proved her talent as a drama character; she always drew attention with her blue eyes and energetic personality in the films made between the years of 1960-80. The actress, who started to sing in 1968, met the director Memduh Ün, a turning point for her. That year, after she had ended her relation with the famous football player of BJK Football Club, Varol; she took the first steps of a lifetime relationship with the director Memduh Ün.

Her popularity increased with the leading roles in films like “Civanmert”, “Duvaksız Gelin”, “Kısmetin En Güzeli” and “Severek Ölenler”. She left to portray the oppressed woman; shifted to portray more masculine women, with the “Belalı Torun” directed by Memduh Ün in 1962, when she started to be called as the “Tomboy Fatma”. She had her hair cut short to portray a man in the movie and this appearance matched her outspoken personality in real life as well as her “Tomboy Fatma” image.

As of 1968, Girik started her singing career. She was one of the most succeeding actresses who shifted to music. Following the leading roles in “Öksüz”, “Vuruldum Bir Kıza” and “Köroğlu”; she also had a leading role in “Ezo Gelin” which made a great success the same year. The director of the movie, which was adopted from the novel of Behçet Kemal Çağlar, was Orhan Elmas. She continued to appear as the village girl after “Ezo Gelin” with movies like “Boş Beşik” which were about the problems of Anatolian women and she gave an enchanting performance.

She won many prizes with the village themed movies she starred in. However, when the Turkish cinema sector passed through a crisis; she appeared on a TV series named “Gönül Dostları” on 1987 by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT). With her successful performance on the TV series, she was received many awards from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and of other institutions. Then, she left the TV show and decided to enter politics. She participated in the local elections as the candidate of the Sosyal Demokrat Halkçı Party (SODEP) and was elected as the mayor of Şişli district in 1988 and she served as the mayor for five years. Following this position, she resumed her TV career.

She is certainly among the most prominent actresses of Turkish cinema together with actresses Türkan Şoray, Filiz Akın and Hülya Koçyiğit since 1960. Thanks to her hard looks and proud expression and her outspoken personality against the injustice; she became the irreplaceable actress of the character roles and village themed movies. She won many prizes with the characters she played in over 180 movies. She made a reality show named “Söz Fatoda” in which the social problems were discussed in a different point of view. “Ezo Gelin”, “Keşanlı Ali Destanı”, “Büyük Yemin” and “Acı” are among the important movies she played in.

In 1999, as the result of the increasing number of TV series; she appeared in TV shows like; “Bize Ne Oldu?”, “Benim İçin Ağlama” and “Hasret”. In 2001, she was deemed worthy of Honorary Award at Istanbul International Film Festival. In 2005, she took the leading roles in “Büyülü Fener”, co-directed by Tunç Başaran and Memduh Ün and in “Sinema Bir Mucizedir” the same year. The 60s and 70s were the productive years for Yeşilçam, many movie actors and actresses like Fikret Hakan, Suzan Avcı, Yılmaz Köksal, Hülya Koçyiğit released albums. Fatma Girik also followed this trend and she recorded a few albums.

Fatma Girik has many awards in film festivals such as: 2^nd Antalya Film Festival, The Best Actress Award  for “Keşanlı Ali Destanı” (1965); 4^th Antalya Film Festival, The Best Actress Award  for “Sürtüğün Kızı” (1967); 1^st Adana Altın Koza Film Festival, The Best Actress Award for “Büyük Yemin”, (1969), 1^st Adana Altın Koza Film Festival, The Best Actress Award for “Ezo Gelin” (1969), 3^rd Adana Altın Koza Film Festival, The Best Actress Award for “Acı” (1971).

REFERENCE: Atilla Dorsay / Türk ve Dünya Sineması Ansiklopedisi (Turhan Gürkan ile, 1983), Alim Şerif Onaran / Türk Sineması (2 cilt, 1994), Kurtuluş Kayalı / Yönetmenler Çerçevesinde Türk Sineması (1994) - Metin Erksan Sinemasını Okumayı Denemek (2004), Nilgün Abisel / Popüler Sinema ve Türler (1995), Sevim Ak / Mahalle Sineması (1996), Ömer Ayhan / Siyah Beyaz Bir Öykü (Türk Sinemasının 1960’lı yıllardan günümüze kadarki yılları, 2001), Şükran Kuyucak Esen / Türk Sinemasının Kilometre Taşları (2002), Agah Özgüç / Türk Sinemasının Kadınları (2008), İhsan Işık / Ünlü Sanatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 5, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Fomous People (2013), Fatma Girik (hurriyet.com.tr, erişim: 15 Aralık 2015), Fatma Girik (cnnturk.com/kultur-sanat, erişim: 15 Aralık 2015), Fatma Girik (sabah.com.tr, erişim: 15 Aralık 2015), Fatma Girik (aksam.com.tr/pazar, erişim: 15 Aralık 2015), Fatma Girik (hurriyet.com.tr, erişim: 15 Aralık 2015), Fatma Girik (yaslilikrehberi.org/roeportaj, erişim: 15 Aralık 2015), Usta oyuncu Fatma Girik hayatını kaybetti (Cnnturk.com, 24.01.2022).