Orhan Melih Günşiray was born on July 3, 1928 in Beyoğlu, Istanbul. Born to his father, Mehmet Mahir, and his mother, Sıdıka Nebiye, the artist graduated from Tophane Art School and worked in business for a short time. Günşiray, who was chosen as Miss Islands Male in 1950, stepped into the world of cinema with the guidance of Hasan Kazankaya in 1957 and appeared on the big screen in the movie "Lejyon Return".
In the same year, he also took part in the historical-themed production called "Murat Fountain"; During this period, he began to advance his cinema career while continuing his contracting business.
The movie "Fosforlu Cevriye", in which he starred with Neriman Köksal in 1959, attracted unexpected attention and made Orhan Günşiray one of the people's favorite young people. This success led him to a career in producing; He played the leading role in historical films such as "Treasures of Genghis Khan" with the Yerli Film company, which he founded jointly with Atıf Yılmaz.
However, this production did not achieve the box office success it wanted. He founded "Günşiray Film" under his own name and produced Turkey's first cinemascope black-and-white film, "Sırat Bridge", directed by Lütfi Ömer Akad in 1966.
Günşiray, who became one of the most popular actors of Turkish cinema between 1959 and 1966, attracted attention with his flirtatious young image, especially in detective films. In the 1970s, he moved away from cinema and worked in different fields such as singing, wedding hall management and management of Beşiktaş Mıstık Cinema.
He returned to the screen in 1970 with the movie "Exemplary", but left the cinema again after a short time. He appeared in the movie "Unutulmayanlar" in 1981, and in the following years he acted in television commercials and various TV series projects.
Orhan Günşiray, who had eight marriages throughout his life, also directed one of his children, Mahir Günşiray, to acting; Mahir had a progressive career by following in his father's footsteps in the movie "My Son". Orhan Günşiray passed away in Istanbul on August 27, 2008, at the age of 79, and is remembered for the traces he left behind in the fields of cinema, TV series and production.
Orhan Günşiray's registered name is Orhan Melih Günşiray. He was born in Istanbul on July 3, 1928, as the son of Mahir and Nebiye Günşiray. He graduated from Tophane Art School.
He worked as a contractor for a while. In 1950, he was chosen as Miss Islands Male. In 1957, he stepped into film acting and appeared on the big screen with the movie "Lejyon Return". He became famous with the movie "Fosforlu Cevriye" in 1959, in which he shared the leading role with Neriman Köksal.
Günşiray, who played the leading role in many films, became the most typical actor of adventure films in Turkish cinema between 1959 and 1966.
In cinema, he started producing in 1962 by establishing Yerli Film in partnership with Atıf Yılmaz. Later, he founded his own company "Günşiray Film" in 1964. In 1966, he made Türkiye's first cinemascope black-and-white film, "Sırat Bridge", directed by Lütfü Akad, in which he played the leading role. After 1970, he moved away from cinema and worked as a singer, wedding hall and summer cinema manager (Beşiktaş Mıstık Cinema).
Productions in which he took part
He took part in a total of 77 productions; 12 of the most well-known are listed.
- Black Angel (1961)
- Külhan Aşkı (1962) — Orhan
- Mansion of Maniacs (1963)
- The Days We Made Love (1961) — Suar
- Curtain of Death (1960) — Murat Davman
- Fosforlu's Game: A Trap for Kitipiyoza (1959)
- The Last Warrior (1982) — German Police
- It was a joke (1995)
- Marziye (1998)
- Bloody Square (1965)
- Free Osman (1965)
- Water (1981)
Production and imprint information was taken from TMDB.
