Kemal Sunal; Star of Turkish Comedies

Kemal Sunal, 55, one of Turkey’s most popular comic actors. Although he expressed a lifelong fear of flying, Sunal had been persuaded to fly from Istanbul to the Black Sea port of Trabzon to film a motion picture. Once aboard the plane, however, he suffered a heart attack that friends attributed to his phobia. Sunal, who had appeared in 82 movies in the last 28 years, starred in several popular situation comedies. He often portrayed peasants transplanted to Turkey’s burgeoning large cities who use common sense to cope with overwhelming changes. One of his best-known characters, Saban the Cow, has become a popular Turkish slang term for a good-hearted dolt. Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said the comic’s films “gave significant messages to society through humor.” Sunal was often compared to the American comedian Jerry Lewis for the ability to reach ordinary people with bumbling antics and simple humor. Born in Istanbul, Sunal began acting on the stage in the 1960s and by the next decade had become one of his country’s leading film stars. On Monday in Istanbul.