Ahmet Alpay İzbırak was born in Istanbul on March 31, 1945 and devoted most of his life to stage and screen art. He received his primary education at Ankara State Conservatory; The foundations he gained here enabled him to step into his professional acting career in 1965. Izbırak managed to reach a wide audience by taking part in cinema, television and theater stages for 45 years.
He made a name for himself by appearing in the children's program Tomurcuk, which was broadcast on TRT in 1984, and in the popular series of the same channel, Sesame Street. Between 1988 and 1990, he played the character of Osman in the TV series Ah Ana, which was included in the afternoon program broadcast on TRT 1 every weekday.
Izbırak's stage career was enriched by the many plays he played at the Ankara State Theatre. While he took the stage in Fritz Hochwalder's play "Inn" in 1968, he also appeared before the audience with Beki L. Bahar's "Alabora" and Abdülhak Hamit Tarhan and Ahmet Muhip Dranas's "Finten" in 1969. In the 1970s, he starred in classic works such as Friedrich Schiller's "The Outlaws" and William Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors"; In 1974, he brought Guilherme Figueiredo's Aesop fable called "The Fox and the Grape" to the stage.
He performed in Carlo Goldoni's play "The Liar" in 1976, in Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" in 1977, and in Maxim Gorki's "Children of the Sun" in 1978.
İzbırak, who strengthened his place in the theater world with the plays "Frank V" by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and "The Dance of Sergeant Musgrave" by John Arden in 1979, also appeared in works such as "Always For the Homeland" and "Taş Almonds" in 1981. In 1983, Dinçer Sümer's "Karacaoğlan" and William Shakespeare's "The Merry Women", in 1984, Turan Oflazoğlu's plays "Kösem Sultan" and "Otelci Kadın", again in 1985, Shakespeare's "The Shrew" and in 1986 Peter Ustinov's "Romanoff and Juliet" were staged.
In her last years, she continued her artistic life with the plays "Sword and Flute" by Turan Oflazoğlu and "Women from Troy" by Euripides in 1987.
Alpay İzbırak died in Istanbul on August 17, 2010, at the age of 65, due to brain cancer. The artist, who was later buried in Ümraniye Ihlamurkuyu Cemetery, is remembered as a valuable legacy of Turkish theater and television with his unforgettable performances both on stage and on the screen.
Ahmet Alpay İzbırak, born on 31.03.1945, graduated from Ankara State Conservatory Theater Department in 1967-68. He joined the State Theater family in the 1969 season.
Ahmet Alpay İzbırak served as Artist Representative of the Art and Board of Directors between 30.06.1978 - 16.10.1979 and 21.12.1988 - 21.12.1990.
He received the Best Director award in 1990 and the Best Actor award from the Arts Institution in 2002 with his play "Brighton Beach Memories". The artist, who was appointed to Istanbul State Theater from Ankara State Theater Directorate on 10 November 2005, retired due to age limit on 31 March 2010.
Some of the plays in which the artist worked as a director and actor: "Han" (assistant director), "Alabora", "Bandits", "Comedy of Errors", "Fatih", "Bağdat Hatun", "Fox and Üzüm", "Big Sinan", "Liar", "Ayyar Hamza" (assistant director), "Children of the Sun", "Always for the Homeland", “Stone Almonds”, “The Delayed Ones”, “Joyful Women”, “The Hotelkeeper Woman”, “Kösem Sultan”, The Shrew”, “Women from Troy”, “Memories” (director), “The Life of Galileo”, “Laundry” (assistant director), “Ferhat and Şirin” (assistant director), “Spring Point”, “The Lord of Istanbul”, “Asiye How” Kurtulur”, “Kuvayi Milliye – Epic of the War of Independence”, “The Great Guest”, “Şaylok”, “Earth is Iron, Sky is Copper”, “The Story of Two Mondays”.
Productions in which he took part
- Yukarikarakısık (1993) — Muhtar
- Müjgan Bey (2004) — Hüsnü Dede
- Tarık and Others (2006) — Numan Dede
- Town (2009)
- Cloud in the Air (2003) — Stelyo
- Ah Ana Hanım Ana (1988) — Osman
- Spring Autumn (2011)
- Breakup (2007)
Production and imprint information was taken from TMDB.
