Çolpan İlhan

Who is Çolpan İlhan?

Çolpan İlhan is a Turkish cinema and theatre actress. She has been awarded the title of 'State artist of Turkey". She has acted in a total of more than 300 films and theatre plays.

Çolpan İlhan did her early education at Kandilli Kız Lisesi. Later she studied theatre at İstanbul Belediye Konservatuarı and art at İstanbul Devlet Güzel Sanatlar Akademisi. With her fellow students, she formed an amateur theatre group called Akademi Tiyatrosu.

In 1957, she acted in her first film called Kamelyalı Kadın. The same year, she acted in her first professional play Sevgili Gölge with Münir Özkul. She worked mostly in theater for some years after this with Küçük Sahne theatre and Oda theatre. From the 1960s, she worked almost entirely in cinema.

In 1998, she was given the title of "State Artist of Turkey' by the Turkish ministry of culture. She is the sister of poet and writer Attila İlhan and surviving wife of actor Sadri Alışık. Çolpan İlhan is also the founder of the Sadri Alışık cultural center.