Biography
Sema Keçik was born on 4 October 1965 in Diyadin, Ağrı, and trained at the State Conservatory of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. She worked in theatre, was invited to Vienna by the Theater des Augenblicks, studied movement and voice there, attended a Commedia dell’arte seminar with Ariane Mnouchkine in Paris and took Kathakali workshops in India.
She turned down film offers for years and made her screen debut in Uğur Yücel’s Yazı Tura (2004). On television she played Düriye Bulut in Bir Bulut Olsam (2009) and Daye Hatun in Muhteşem Yüzyıl (2011 to 2012), the role that made her widely known. Later credits include Aşk Yeniden, Yeni Gelin, Kırmızı Oda and Gülcemal, and the film Nefesim Kesilene Kadar.
She was married to Ümit Karabel, a soloist at the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet, until his death in 2008, and raised their daughter Ebru. In 2026 she joined NOW‘s Sevdam Karadeniz as Nafiye Yeniceli, the wife of Durali and grandmother of Zeyşan.
