Her mother is Suzan Lûtfullah Sururi, the first Turkish primadonna...

Her father is Lûtfullah Sururi, one of the founders of our operetta...

Her uncles are Yusuf, Celal, Ali Sururi. The authors and performers of the first operetta theatre...

She was on stage for the first time in her mother’s stomach and then at the age of twelve at Children’s Theatre with Muhsin Ertuğrul’s request... Muhsin Ertuğrul found her talented and selected her for the conservatoire. There she took drama, singing and ballet lessons from the most important teachers of the period. Meanwhile, she started taking up small roles at the City Theatres. She had to earn a living at a young age. Before she finished the conservatoire, she found herself playing the leading role in several private companies.

he was the student of great masters. She values this period a lot: “I learned theatre from Muhsin Ertuğrul, I learned how to be comfortable on stage from Muammer Karaca, I found fame at Haldun Dormen’s theatre, Engin Cezzar discovered my multi-dimensional performance, Haldun Taner and Güngör Dilmen have a significant role in my becoming a distinguished actress.”

At the Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar Theatre she founded in 1962 with her husband Engin Cezzar, she put on stage local plays including Teneke (The Drumming-Out), Kurban (The Victim), Midas’ın Kulakları (Midas’s Ears), Zilli Zarife (Shrewish Zarife), Canlı Maymun Lokantası (Live Monkey Restaurant), Ferhat ile Şirin (Ferhat and Shirin), as well as important plays of the world theatre literature and thus made her mark in Turkish Theatre history. She assured her fame in theatre with musicals such as Sokak Kızı İrma (Irma la douce), Kabare (Cabaret), Hair, Keşanlı Ali Destanı (Keşanlı Ali’s Epic), Kaldırım Serçesi (The Sidewalk Sparrow), Direklerarası (Between the Columns), and Söyleyeceklerim Var (I Have Things to Say) which is written by herself.

She became famous with the books she wrote as well as in theatre. Alongside Kıldan İnce Kılıçtan Keskince (Thinner Than Hair and Sharper Than Sword, Memoir), Bir An Gelir (Then Comes a Moment, Memoir), Seni Seviyorum (I Love You, novel), Girmediğim Sokaklarda (On the Streets I Never Entered, stories), Biz Kadınlar (Us, Women, newspaper articles), she wrote three cookbooks, three unstaged plays, namely Tiyatrocu (Thespian), Söyleyeceklerim Var (I Have Things to Say), Ayşe Opereti (Ayşe Operetta), and a musical (Fosforlu Cevriye).

Gülriz Sururi received the Istanbul Theatre Festival’s Honorary Award in 2008 and in 2018; she made a generous donation to Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, which allowed the initiation of Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar Theatre Encouragement Award. This annual award supports ensembles and people who support the advancement of theatre in Turkey.

Gülriz Sururi passed away on 31 December 2018. In accordance to her will, her passing away was announced only after her funeral was held, on 1 January 2019.