Turkey: Legendary actress Yildiz Kenter dead at 91

By Dilara Hamit

ANKARA (AA) – Yildiz Kenter, a veteran actress of Turkish cinema and theatre, passed away in Istanbul on Sunday. She was 91 years old.

Kenter had been undergoing intensive care at Istanbul's American Hospital for lung disease.

The distinguished actress was born in 1928 in Istanbul to British mother Olga Cynthia and Ahmet Naci Kenter, a Turkish diplomat.

Kenter worked at the Ankara State Theater for 11 years and won a Rockefeller scholarship to study new techniques in acting and teaching acting at the American Theater Wing, Neighborhood Play House and Actor’s Studio.

In the 1950s she was later appointed as a lecturer at the Ankara State Conservatory.

She founded the Kent Actors community with her husband Sukran Gungor and her brother Musfik Kenter. The latter was also a legendary actor of the screen and stage.

In subsequent years, she worked to change educational methods and acting methods in the U.S. and the U.K.

She performed plays in both English and Turkish in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Kenter took the stage for over 100 plays throughout her 60-year career.

Among the many honors she was bestowed throughout her career was the Adelaide Ristori Prize, given to her in 1984 by the Italian Cultural Association in Rome.

In 1989, she won the best actress award for her role in the Turkish movie Madame at the Bastia Film Festival in Corsica, France.

In 2007 Kenter was named a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.

Kenter always promoted her fellow thespians, saying: "Turkish actresses compare well next to their international colleagues."