lit a candle 5 Sept 2026My daughter watched Seksenler with her grandmother every week. Ergun Plak was family to us. He brought such warmth to that role. We are heartbroken.
Their story
Serhat Mustafa Kılıç (8 July 1975 to 5 September 2026) was a Turkish actor, television and radio presenter, teacher, and stage showman. Born in Ankara to a family with Malatya roots, he built a career that ran from State Theatre stages in Anatolia to Cannes and to living rooms across…
Serhat Mustafa Kılıç (8 July 1975 to 5 September 2026) was a Turkish actor, television and radio presenter, teacher, and stage showman. Born in Ankara to a family with Malatya roots, he built a career that ran from State Theatre stages in Anatolia to Cannes and to living rooms across Turkey as Ergun Plak in the long-running TRT series Seksenler. He was found dead at his home in Istanbul's Kağıthane (Nurtepe) district on 5 September 2026 at age 51. His girlfriend, identified in police accounts as Özlem E. and in entertainment coverage as writer-editor Özlem Esmergül, had not heard from him since Thursday, entered with a key, found him motionless in an armchair, and called emergency services. An investigation was opened. She told police he had lymphoma. His body was taken to the Forensic Medicine Institute (Adli Tıp) for autopsy. As of same-day reporting, the official cause of death had not been made public.
Kılıç entered Bilkent University's School of Music and Performing Arts theatre department on scholarship in 1994 and graduated with high honours in 1998, studying under teachers including Cüneyt Gökçer, Çetin Tekindor, and Lemi Bilgin. His first professional stage credit was Ariel Dorfman's Widows (Kayıplar / Dullar) at Ankara Art Theatre under Rutkay Aziz. He worked at Diyarbakır State Theatre (1999-2000), taught and directed at Diyarbakır City Theatres, completed compulsory service at Erzurum State Theatre from 2002, earned a directing master's at Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory (2005), and lectured in theatre at Erzurum Atatürk University's Faculty of Fine Arts. In 2008 he left the State Theatres and settled in Istanbul, working with Tiyatro Dot and BKM. At Istanbul City Theatres he spent three sold-out seasons in Dušan Kovačević's Generalna proba samoubstiva (İntiharın Genel Provası), playing four characters and earning an Afife Theatre Awards nomination for musical/comedy male performance.
Television made him a household name. After early series including Bizim Evin Halleri, Hatırla Sevgili, Yol Arkadaşım, Benim Annem Bir Melek, and Ezel, he starred for six seasons (2012-2016) as Ergun Plak in Seksenler, the nostalgic neighbourhood comedy that sealed his popular image. He later played Çolak in the military drama Söz (International Emmy-nominated series), Taner Aslan in Öğretmen, Necati Türel in Maraşlı, and Mihael Kosses (Köse Mihal) in Kuruluş: Osman (2021-2022). Later credits included Tetikçinin Oğlu, Kirli Sepeti, Kardelenler (2025), and Mehmed: Fetihler Sultanı (2025-2026) as Molla Lutfî, plus web series such as Şeref Bey and Gassal.
On film he was Selim in Derviş Zaim's Nokta (2008), Salih Bozok in Zülfü Livaneli's Veda (2010), and Imam Hamdi in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Kış Uykusu (Winter Sleep, 2014), which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. That supporting turn brought a SİYAD Best Supporting Actor nomination and a Sadri Alışık Theatre and Cinema Awards Selection Committee Special Award. Other films included Robinson ve Cuma, Baskın: Karabasan, Mavzer, and Cenazemize Hoş Geldiniz.
Parallel to screen work he founded the production company Cats & Dogs (Soho Istanbul) in 2012 and, in November 2014, Okul Serhat Kılıç (acting, writing, dance, voice), with Sahne Ankara as a major private stage. He presented radio from the early 1990s and TV programmes from Uyanık Bar to İnan Bana and Çok Tatlı, appeared on O Ses Türkiye, and developed music-theatre shows including Müzikoman and the autobiographical one-man play Kırık Plak (written by Özlem Esmergül; Üstün Akmen Theatre Award for comedy male actor, 2025). Colleagues including Söz co-star Eren Vurdem went to his home after the death news. He is remembered as a craftsman who moved between Anatolian stages, prestige cinema, mass TV, classroom, and nightclub stage without treating any of them as lesser.
Biography adapted from EN/TR Wikipedia Serhat Kılıç; Wikidata Q6098104; Milliyet/DHA 2026-09-05; Takvim 2026-09-05; Independent Türkçe; Hürriyet campus interview 2017; Hürriyet / Ömür Gedik Kış Uykusu interview; Hürriyet Ke.
In their own words
“Sokakta birbirimizi dövmektense birbirimize şiirler söyleyelim.”
Closing advice to young artists; Hürriyet campus interview, 13 Nov 2017
“Her ne yapmak istiyorsanız bir an önce yapın, çünkü hayat çok kısa ve oyun oynamak çok güzel. Yani en azından savaşmaktan daha güzel.”
Hürriyet campus interview, 2017
“Müthiş bir konservatuvar açtık. Her şeyimi de tiyatroya yatırdım. İki yıl önce o okulu açtığımdan beri özel hayatım yok, sevgilim yok, boş günüm yok.”
On Hadi Be / Hürriyet Keyif, 2 May 2018
“Türkiye Anadolu'dur.”
On Anatolian theatre climate; Hürriyet campus interview, 2017
Photos
2Serhat Kilic, publicity portrait
by People Forever
Serhat Mustafa Kilic, Takvim coverage composite
by People Forever
His standards mattered. He wasn't chasing trends.