8 Things You Didn’t Know About Afife Jale

Afife Jale was the first Turkish Muslim theatre actress who was born on 24th July 1902 and died in the year 1941 in Turkey.  She was best known for stage actress. Afife was passionate about acting since childhood and continuously was doing efforts to achieve her goal. 

8 Things You Didn’t Know About Afife Jale

1- Afife Jale’s Family Background

She was born to Hidayet and Methiye.  Also, she had a sister Behiye and a brother Salah. After leaving her acting career, she met Selahattin Pinar who was a music composer at a Turkish Classical Music concert she attended. The duo gets married in 1929 and lived in Istanbul. After a few years of wedding, they got divorced in 1935 because of Afife’s morphine addiction.

2- How She Became The First Muslim Theatre Actress

Afife Jale was studying at a girls’ industry school in Istanbul; however, she wanted to be an actress.  In the Ottoman Empire, Muslim Turkish women were not allowed to play in front of an audience by a statement made by the Interior Ministry. Only non-Muslim women of Greek, Armenian or Jewish minorities are eligible to act.

3-  Why She Ran Away From Her House

Her father was against theatre or film career and he didn’t like the profession. It was due to her Muslim family background and she keeps herself under the restrictions. Despite the fact, she was so enthusiastic about acting since her adolescence. For accomplishing her dreams, she decided to leave her house and one day, she left her home. As a student at the performance theatre, she entered the studio of the recently settled city (Ottoman Turkish: Darulabadi).  The Conservatory opened a curriculum to trained the characters on screen in a manner that born Muslim women to play only for a group of women.

3-  Her On-Stage Acting Debut

She made her on-stage acting debut in the year 1920, she acted as ‘Emel’ in the theatre play named ‘Yamalar’ which was written by Huseyin Suat. She was replaced with Armenian Eliza Binemeciyan as she was not available at that time. So, Afife started her venture by taking her role. She used her stage name Jale for that play and then became popular with this name.

4- She Released From The Theatre

Apel, who performed at the “Apollon Theater” in Kadakio, has become the head of a Muslim Turkish venue in the country. Non-Muslim co-actors must attend the event twice during police raids. The administration of the theatre was wary of a prison sentence in 1921, which led to her release from the auditorium. During that time she appeared in a few other showcase companies under various stage names.

5- She Had A Morphin Addiction

She was faced with financial crises and endured severe headache. She relied on morphine after her physician applied morphine-based therapy to her.

6- She Joined The Theatre Again

In 1923, the recently announced Republican administrator, Mustafa Kemal, lifted the Ottoman era ban in front of Muslim women actors. This puts an end to Arif’s terrible feelings. She once again joined the theater and flew to Anatolia. However, her illicit drug use affected her well-being, and she eventually retires from the theater.

7- She Spent Her Last Years In The Hospital

Jale’s colleagues from the theatre were taken to Bakirkoi Mental Hospital for treatment. She spent most of her time in the emergency clinic, where she died in the year 1941.

8- Her Life Was Portrayed Twice In The Cinema

In 1987, Journalist Nezihe Araz (1922-2009) composed the theatre play of “Afif Jale”, which became a film. Also, her entire life was portrayed twice in the cinema, first, in the 1987 movie Afif Jale, which was directed by Sahin Kaygun, and later in the 2008 movie Ceyda Asli.