Ali Rıza Soydan was born on February 9, 1956 in Niğde and died on October 24, 2019. Soydan, who has been interested in the stage since his childhood, was known as the favorite of school competitions even in primary school. When he started secondary school, he performed plays in the towns and villages of Niğde, thanks to the amateur theater group he founded with his friends who had the same passion.
Soydan, who appeared on stage with the Istanbul Folk Actors, who organized a tour to Niğde in 1974, stepped onto the path of professional theater with this experience. After completing his conservatory education, he proved himself by taking part in more than twenty plays; In the same year, he also worked at Orhan Erçin Theater in Ankara.
In 1975, he took part in the play "Pir Sultan" in the 45-person cast of the Actors Union, and then traveled to the most remote villages of Anatolia for two years with the touring theater he founded. In 1977, he took the stage in the play "Sezanın İyi İnsanı" at Vasıf Öngören Theatre.
After the 1980 coup, while continuing his theater activities at an amateur level, he worked as a creative director, art director and designer in the advertising industry; He also gained experience in radio and television advertising. Later, he gave acting lessons at universities and various institutions and took on general coordinator and managerial duties.
Soydan, who returned to the stage in 1994 with the play "Duyduk Duymasık Don't Say", performed this play in various theater venues in Istanbul and Ankara for two years.
Soydan, who has turned to management and organization work since the late 1990s, also began to take part in television series and films. He worked as general coordinator at Şahin Özer Art Education Center and Esra Film Company; He produced two television movies called “Wait, My Love” and “Yarım Elin Oldu”. His best-known movie role is the character of Pope in the 2012 movie "Fetih 1453". He settled in Antwerpen, Belgium, in 2009.
Ali Rıza Soydan, who died on October 24, 2019, lived a life intertwined with stage lights, the world of advertising and teaching for many years and was remembered as one of the important names of Turkish theater and television.
Productions in which he took part
- Conquest 1453 (2012) — Pope Nicholas V
- Hidden Faces (2014) — Fikret
- Travelogue (1977)
Production and imprint information was taken from TMDB.
