# Kemal Sunal

Ali Kemal Sunal (11 November 1944 – 3 July 2000) was a Turkish actor and comedian. With Hababam Sınıfı, Kapıcılar Kralı and Davaro, Sunal gained large popularity amongst Turkish cinema goers and was famed for his character "Şaban", a role he frequently played.

## Career

Kemal Sunal graduated from Vefa Lisesi (Vefa High School). In his early ages, he started pursuing what was to become a long and successful acting career in minor roles in various theatres. For a brief period, he worked in the Kenterler Theatre and debuted in the play Zoraki Tabip. He was later transferred to the Devekuşu Kabare Theatre, where he performed his acting.
He was recognized as a real talent, and started receiving offers for movies with larger budgets and a more famous cast. His first bigger role was in the film "Tatlı Dillim" directed by Ertem Eğilmez. In a matter of years, Sunal co-starred alongside Halit Akçatepe, Şener Şen and Münir Özkul.
Perhaps the most famous of all his parts was when he played in Hababam Sınıfı (The Outrageous Class) and was known by the name of "Şaban", but most of his classmates just called him İnek (nerd) Şaban. İnek Şaban was constantly bullied and humiliated by his friends, but this never kept him from thinking the unthinkable, like digging a tunnel to escape school grounds (which later, turned out to lead to the vice-principal's office) or smoking in the school attic. The character was so pure and so fixed in the memories of the Turkish people, it was never replaced by another actor in the recent re-shootings of Hababam Sınıfı, most probably as a sign of respect to Sunal.
His other notable characters include: Tosun Paşa; Süt Kardeş Şaban; Çöpçüler Kralı, who fell in love with a municipality officer's fiancée; Doktor Civanım, a former hospital janitor pretending to be a doctor upon his return to his home village; and finally "Orta Direk Şaban", a naive man trying to become an athlete to impress his crush.
The huge popularity of his movies stemmed not only from their unique humour but also their depiction of the many problems faced by the poor rural people in Turkey during the 1970s and 1980s. In almost all of his films, Kemal Sunal plays a poor man, trying to make a living.
Sunal's last film was Propaganda, which was directed by Sinan Çetin. Sunal, played a customs officer-in-charge (presumably) on the Syrian border Being a serious drama, this film was a contrast to his other works. As the plot unfolded, Sunal's character fell into despair, trying to survive the dilemma between his duties as an officer of the law and his duties as a friend. In the public opinion, this film was not the best of his works. Another significant fact about this film is that it also included Ali Sunal, Kemal Sunal's son, cast as a junior customs officer.

## Personal life

Sunal kept himself and his family away from the media and rarely appeared in public. People who knew him have commented on how serious he was in his real life, in contrast to the funny characters he played in his movies. Whilst he was at the top of his career, he decided to finish university, which he had dropped out of in his early career. Despite his fame, he attended the university like a regular student and stated that "that was the way he liked it to be".
Sunal's dreams of higher-education were disrupted in 1980, during the period of military takeover. His attempts to earn a degree finally paid off in 1995, when he earned his bachelor's degree in Radio Television and Cinema Studies from Marmara University. He then decided to pursue a master's degree (the topic of this thesis being himself), which he earned in 1998, also from Marmara University. This incident was covered by the media with headlines like "İnek Şaban Master Yaptı" (Şaban the Geek got a master's degree) while his 'classmates' from Hababam Sinifi made comments like "Profesorluk Bekliyoruz" ("We expect professorship"). At his graduation ceremony, he made a speech joking that his path of first working and then attending university later in life was better as it allowed him to gain real life experience first.

## Death

Kemal Sunal died on July 3, 2000, as a result of a sudden heart attack aboard a flight to Trabzon just before take-off. He was reported to be afraid of flying. His death caused mourning that swept the entire nation and dominated news coverage for many days. He was interred at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery in Istanbul.
Kemal Sunal and his wife Gül Sunal (born 1957) had two children, Ali Sunal (born 1977) and Ezo Sunal (born 1985).

## Filmography
### Films

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1972 | Tatlı Dillim | Basketballer | Debut role |
| 1973 | Canım Kardeşim | Yolcu | |
| 1973 | Yalancı Yarim | Kemal | |
| 1973 | Oh Olsun | Fazıl | |
| 1973 | Güllü Geliyor Güllü | Hit man | |
| 1974 | Hasret | Yanık | |
| 1974 | Salak Milyoner | Saffet | |
| 1974 | Köyden İndim Şehire | Saffet | |
| 1974 | Salako | Salako | First leading role |
| 1974 | Mavi Boncuk | Kaymakam Cafer | |
| 1975 | Şaşkın Damat | Apti | |
| 1975 | Hababam Sınıfı | İnek (Cow) Şaban | |
| 1975 | Hanzo | Hanzo / Cabbar | Dual role |
| 1975 | Hababam Sınıfı Sınıfta Kaldı | İnek (Cow) Şaban | |
| 1976 | Tosun Paşa | Şaban / Tosun Pasha | |
| 1976 | Süt Kardeşler | Şaban | |
| 1976 | Sahte Kabadayı | Kemal | |
| 1976 | Meraklı Köfteci | Zühtü Karışan | |
| 1976 | Kapıcılar Kralı | Seyid | |
| 1976 | Hababam Sınıfı Uyanıyor | İnek (Cow) Şaban | |
| 1977 | Hababam Sınıfı Tatilde | İnek (Cow) Şaban | |
| 1977 | Sakar Şakir | Şakir | |
| 1977 | Şabanoğlu Şaban | Şaban | |
| 1977 | İbo İle Güllüşah | İbrahim | |
| 1977 | Çöpçüler Kralı | Abdi Şakrak | |
| 1978 | Avanak Apti | Apti | |
| 1978 | Kibar Feyzo | Feyzo | |
| 1978 | Köşeyi Dönen Adam | Adem | |
| 1978 | Yüz Numaralı Adam | Şaban | |
| 1978 | İyi Aile Çocuğu | Kemal / Cemal | Dual role |
| 1978 | İnek Şaban | Şaban / Bülent | Dual role |
| 1979 | Umudumuz Şaban | Ringo Şaban | |
| 1979 | Şark Bülbülü | Şaban Ballıses | |
| 1979 | Korkusuz Korkak | Mülayim Sert | |
| 1979 | Dokunmayın Şabanıma | Şaban | |
| 1979 | Bekçiler Kralı | Şaban Özgüneş | |
| 1980 | Zübük | İbrahim Zübükzade | |
| 1980 | Devlet Kuşu | Mustafa | |
| 1980 | Gerzek Şaban | Osman / Seyfi | Dual role |
| 1980 | Gol Kralı | Sait Sarıoğlu | |
| 1981 | Üç Kağıtçı | Rıfkı | |
| 1981 | Kanlı Nigar | Narçın / Abdi | Dual role |
| 1981 | Davaro | Memo Davaro | |
| 1982 | Yedi Bela Hüsnü | Hüsnü | |
| 1982 | Doktor Civanım | Kemal | |
| 1983 | Tokatçı | Osman | |
| 1983 | Kılıbık | Kamil | |
| 1983 | En Büyük Şaban | Şaban | |
| 1983 | Çarıklı Milyoner | Bayram | |
| 1984 | Postacı | Yandan Çarklı Adem | |
| 1984 | Şabaniye | Şaban / Şabaniye | |
| 1984 | Ortadirek Şaban | Şaban | |
| 1984 | Atla Gel Şaban | Niyazi | |
| 1985 | Sosyete Şaban | Şaban Ağa / Dilaver Bey | Dual role |
| 1985 | Şendul Şaban | Şaban | |
| 1985 | Şaban Papuçu Yarım | Şaban | |
| 1985 | Keriz | Zülfü | |
| 1985 | Katma Değer Şaban | Şaban | |
| 1985 | Gurbetçi Şaban | Şaban | |
| 1986 | Yoksul | Yoksul | |
| 1986 | Garip | Kemal | |
| 1986 | Tarzan Rıfkı | Tarzan Rıfkı | |
| 1986 | Deli Deli Küpeli | Kaymakam | |
| 1986 | Davacı | Yunus | |
| 1987 | Yakışıklı | Selim | |
| 1987 | Kiracı | Kerim | |
| 1987 | Japon İşi | Veysel | |
| 1988 | Düttürü Dünya | Dütdüt Mehmet | |
| 1988 | Uyanık Gazeteci | Ali | |
| 1988 | Sevimli Hırsız | Metin Mertoglu | |
| 1988 | Polizei | Ali Ekber | |
| 1988 | Öğretmen | Teacher Hüsnü | |
| 1988 | İnatçı | Bayram | |
| 1988 | Bıçkın | Ali / Himself | Dual role |
| 1989 | Zehir Hafiye | Cemal | |
| 1989 | Talih Kuşu | Osman Abalı | |
| 1989 | Gülen Adam | Yusuf Şaplak | |
| 1990 | Abuk Sabuk Bir Film | Âdemoğlu | |
| 1990 | Koltuk Belası | Zühtü Kaya | |
| 1990 | Boynu Bükük Küheylan | İbrahim Küheylan | |
| 1991 | Varyemez | Ragıp Elibol | |
| 1999 | Propaganda | Mehdi | final leading role |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1992 | Saygılar Bizden | Mübasir Riza | |
| 1993 | Şaban Askerde | Şaban | 28 episodes |
| 1994 | Bay Kamber | Bay Kamber | 11 episodes |
| 1997 | Şaban İle Şirin | Şaban | 3 episodes |

## Awards

* 1977: 14. Antalya Film Şenliği (14th Antalya Film Festival), Best Actor, Kapıcılar Kralı
* 1998: 35. Antalya Film Şenliği (35th Antalya Film Festival), Lifetime honorary award, Kapıcılar Kralı
* 1989: 2. Ankara Film Şenliği (2nd Ankara Film Festival), Best Actor, Düttürü Dünya

## Books

| Year | Title | Publisher | ISBN |
| 1998 | TV ve Sinemada Kemal Sunal Güldürüsü | Sel Yayınları | ISBN 9755702628 |
| 2001 | Kemal Sunal Güldürüsü | Om Yayınevi | ISBN 9756827793 |