İzzet Şener Kökkaya was born in Antalya on May 30, 1943 and died in Adana on July 20, 2024. He has had a long artistic career in theatre, cinema and television, with various roles such as acting, stage manager and director.
Kökkaya, who started his artistic journey in 1957 when he stepped into the amateur theater stage in Eskişehir, took a break after studying at the Eskişehir Economic and Commercial Sciences Academy until the second grade. He took part in institutions such as Eskişehir Chamber Theater and Municipality City Theatre, and then took the stage as a guest actor at the State Theatres.
He took part in the establishment of the Pendik Theater in 1966, and a year later he joined the Ankara Art Theater and continued his duties as both an actor and stage manager until 1982. In the 1970s, he became known to large audiences by co-hosting TRT's "5 Dakika" program with Savaş Yurttaş. The artist, who settled in Izmir in 1986 due to health problems, founded the Izmir Art Theater here and also turned to poetry, play and script writing; He also taught at Denizli Municipality Conservatory for two years. He also performed on important stages such as Ankara Ekin Theater and Adana State Theatre.
While Kökkaya's stage repertoire includes works such as "I Want to Stand", "Eskici Dükkanı", "Sait Hopsait" and "Mevlana", in the world of cinema and TV series, he left permanent traces in the memory of the audience with productions such as "Sürü", "Uzun Bir Gece", "Vizontele", "Organize İşler" and "Eyvah Eyvah". This versatile artist has continued to deliver unforgettable performances both on stage and screen over the years.
Productions in which he took part
He took part in 23 productions in total; 12 of the most well-known are listed.
- Sakarya Fırat (2009) — Kahya Kalafat
- The Last Agha (2008)
- Fugitive (2013) — Commissioner Hamido
- Vizontele Tuuba (2004) — Basri
- Vizontele (2001) — Basri
- Conscience (2008) — Pavilionist
- Ulak (2008) — Kahveci Dursun
- Oh Love, Where Are You? (2009) — Kamil
- The Herd (1978) — Çerçi
- Organize İşler (2005) — Casino Owner
- G.D.O. KaraKedi (2013) — Erdem
- A Long Night (1987)
Production and imprint information was taken from TMDB.
