PROMINENT TURKISH ACTOR TO BE LAID TO REST ON SATURDAY
ANKARA - Cuneyt Gokcer, one of the leading names of the Turkish theatre, passed away at the age of 89.
Gokcer will be laid to rest in Istanbul on Saturday after two separate funerals in Ankara on Friday. His students will pay their last tribute to Gokcer at a memorial at the Bilkent University. The second funeral will take place in front of the State Opera and Ballet.
Born in eastern province of Malatya in 1920, Gokcer graduated from the State Conservatory in 1942.
Working both as an actor and director at the State Theaters, Gokcer also begun acting in cinema films in 1951 with a movie called "Vatan ve Namik Kemal".
He was most revered for his performances in Shakespearean characters in the "Oedipus Rex", "The Twelfth Night", "King Lear" and "Henry IV".
Among Gokcer's other notable stage performances were "Antigone", "Julius Caesar", "Faust" and "The Fiddler on the Roof".
Gokcer, who also served as the head of the State Theaters, was bestowed with the title of "state artist" in 1981 by the Presidential Office.
