Arif Erkin

Born

11 September 1935

Place of birth

Gaziantep

Died

16 October 2025 (aged 90)

On Avşar Film

appeared in 1 series

Arif Erkin was born on 11 September 1935 in Gaziantep. His original surname is Güzelbeyoğlu. While attending Gaziantep High School, he appeared on the amateur stage in 1950 in the lead role in Molière's Hastalık Hastası, and in the same years he learned the violin from his teacher. He studied architecture at Istanbul Technical University; he received his music training at the Opera Dershanesi of the State Opera and Ballet, and worked at Istanbul Radio as both a solo and a choir artist.

He began professional acting in 1964 at the Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar Tiyatrosu, in the musical Direklerarası, for which he also wrote the music. He composed the music for Haldun Taner's plays Zilli Zarife and Vatan Kurtaran Şaban. He was among the founders of the Dostlar Tiyatrosu and prepared the music for all of the company's plays in its first five years. For many years he worked in the zoning department of the Istanbul Municipality.

In film music, he received the Best Music Award at the Adana Altın Koza Film Festival in 1969 for Umut. As an actor, he became widely known for the role of Zülfikar Suruç in the series İkinci Bahar. He played Memik Dede in the series Yabancı Damat, Piri Mehmet Paşa in Muhteşem Yüzyıl and Mala Ahmet in the film Beyaz Melek.

For his contributions to cinema through his music, he was awarded an Honorary Award at the Izmir International Film and Music Festival in 2021. He died on 16 October 2025.

Erkin played Nusret in Avşar Film's 2003 series Sultan Makamı.