Zihni Göktay

Born

2 December 1945

Place of birth

Fatih

Died

5 July 2026 (aged 80)

On Avşar Film

appeared in 1 movie

Zihni Göktay was born on 2 December 1945 in the Fatih district of Istanbul. His father was a tailor who also sewed theatre costumes. After graduating from Pertevniyal High School, he performed as an amateur at the Eminönü Halkevi and the İMTB Youth Theatres between 1960 and 1964.

He began professional acting in 1964 at the Ankara Meydan Stage and stayed with this troupe until 1973. The same year he moved to the Istanbul City Theatres; there, in thirty-six years, he appeared in seventy-two plays. He continued the character Komiser Cafer Sabbah, which he took over from Muammer Karaca and Nejat Uygur, in the play Cibali Karakolu. Between 1978 and 1996 he worked as a director and actor in the Radio Theatre of TRT Istanbul Radio and voiced many Turkish and foreign films.

In cinema he appeared in films starring Kemal Sunal such as Tosun Paşa, Atla Gel Şaban and Meraklı Köfteci; in Tosun Paşa he played Tellioğlu Ruhi. On television, besides the role of Muvaffak Güngör in the series Bizimkiler, he was best known as Götingenli Ethem in Cennet Mahallesi.

Göktay died in Istanbul on 5 July 2026.

Göktay appeared in Avşar Film's 2017 film Seni Gidi Seni.