THE CHEERFUL MOTHER OF TURKISH CINEMA

From the stage to the silver screen and TV, the sought-after face of all media, Adile Naşit fit a long and prolific career in her short life.

The family Adile Naşit was born into held clues to her future. She was born in 1930 as Adela Özcan, the daughter of Naşit Özcan, a master of improvisational theater aka the “Comic of the City,” renown as the “Man who made even Sultan Hamid laugh” and canto singer Amelia Hanım. With the name she took later, Adile and his brother Selim Naşit knew the value of their acting genes, which were a family heritage. The two children of the Özcan family, who grew up backstage, embraced the family business.

Naşit Özcan lost his life when his daughter Adile was only 13. About a year after this loss, in 1944, young Adile took her first step on stage. Not schooled but a natural, Naşit started acting in the children’s department of Istanbul City Theaters. Here, in 1945, she got her first leading role in the play Nar Tanesi Nur Tanesi.

Adile Naşit’s career in theater continued in the most popular theater companies of Istanbul such as Ses Theater and Muammer Karaca Theater between 1946 and 1961. While the actress continued to rise to fame on stage, she married Ziya Keskiner, another thespian in 1950. Even though they tried to set up their own theater company in 1961 with her brother Selim Naşit Özcan, their attempt ended in failure. Adile Naşit transferred to Gazanfer Özcan-Gönül Ülkü Theater Company the following year where she worked for long years. The hardest times in her private life coincided with the brightest and most vivid days in her acting career. The son of the actor couple, Ahmet, was born in 1952 with a congenital heart defect. Even though Ahmet underwent surgery, it was to no avail, and he died at the age of 14 in 1966.

The marriage of Adile Naşit and Ziya Keskiner, who buried their only child, went on until the day Keskiner passed away in 1982. Starting in the 40s, Adile

Naşit rigorously acted in plays across the country. On the other hand, her silver-screen adventure, which would lead to her becoming recognized and appreciated by masses, started relatively later in life. Her first movie was “Yara” (Wound), dated 1947, and until the 70s, cinema always played second fiddle in her life. In the 60s, which is considered the Golden Age of Yeşilçam, Adile Naşit was content with taking part in a few movies and concentrating on theater. Seventy-eight of the 84 movies she took part in throughout her life were shot in the 70s and 80s.

The person who was key to Turkish cinema discovering Adile Naşit’s acting was Ertem

Eğilmez, the founder of Arzu Film. Director and producer Eğilmez watched Naşit on stage and convinced her to join the company of Arzu

Film. In the 70s, Arzu Film operated much like a theater company with the same group of players, producing 5-6 movies a year, with a hard-tobelieve tempo. The company’s outstanding genre was family comedies, whose plots shared many similarities. Adile

Naşit portrayed characters resembling one another in these movies that told the stories of ordinary people’s lives full of color and love. Yeşilçam’s practical approach of identifying various characters with certain actors, cast Adile Naşit in the role of the cheerful, tender-hearted, and self-sacrificing mother of the family. After burying her only child at a young age, Adile Naşit being identified with the persona of a mother in her Yeşilçam career, a very short while following her loss, is one of the saddest stories in our cinema history. In almost all of these movies which she played alongside with Münir Özkul, Naşit became visible like never before in her cinematic career. Telling the stories of happy families going through rough times “Bizim Aile” (Our Family, 1975), “Gülen Gözler” (Smiling Eyes, 1977), “Neşeli Günler” (Cheerful Days, 1978) are movies that viewers who love nostalgia enjoy even today. Specifically during religious holidays, people often watch one or more of these films.

While cinema was making headway at a rapid pace in the 80s, presenting Uykudan Önce (Before Sleep), the children’s program broadcasted by TRT, gave a start to a new era in Adile Naşit’s career. Telling stories in a warm and loving manner and referring to her viewers as “Little Lambs,” Adile Teyze (Aunt Adile) won the hearts of a new fan base. Much like what Barış Manço managed to do with the program Adam Olacak Çocuk (Whizz-kid), she established a strong bond with a generation, laying the foundations of this bond in their childhood.

Having endured great loss in her life, the comedy actress passed away in

1987 at the age of 57. Adile Naşit, who enjoyed a rich and multifaceted career during her short life, comes to the mind of viewers of all ages with her indelible smile. Naşit is in her final resting place in Karacaahmet Cemetery, Istanbul with her lifelong friend and partner of 32 years Ziya Keskiner and her son Ahmet Keskiner. And, of course, in the hearts of all her little lambs.