Füsun Önal

Biography

She was born in Kadıköy, Istanbul on 11 March 1947. Her father was a soldier in the Turkish army and her mother was a house wife. Füsun grew up in Ankara. During her childhood, she played mandolin and accordion. She also got private piano lessons for about 11 years, studied classical music.

She graduated from TED Ankara College and studied English phililogy in Ankara DTCF University. During university years, she started to sing in Erol Pekcan jazz orchestra as a jazz music singer.

Then, she came to her hometown İstanbul and started to sing pop music songs on İstanbul's well-known stages. She gave youth concerts, made radio and TV programs. And also gave concerts in Australia, England, İtaly, Switzerland, Kazakhstan and Kırgızistan. She had 16 tours all around Turkey with concerts and theatre performances.

She was the emcee of the popular contest of married couples named Newly Wed Game-Evcilik Oyunu for about 450 times on Show TV. Füsun also had acted on radio theatres and also produced very many radio programs of her own.

She acted in some movie films mainly as a singer and performed many of her songs in them. She performed the leading roles of world-famous theatre plays and musicals in İstanbul and all around Turkey, such as "Butterflies Are Free-Kelebekler Özgürdür", "Stop The World I Wanna Get Off-Durdurun Dünyayı İnecek Var", "Evita", "Hair", "Last Of The Red Hot Lovers-Ateşli Aşıkların Sonuncusu-3Kadın Bir Çapkın" which are directed by famous directors such as Haldun Dormen, Engin Cezzar, Barnard Hassel, Metin Serezli, Tunç Yalman, Kenneth Urmston.

She made records for CBS, Odeon, Sony, Discotur, Melody, Ronnex Record (Plak) Companies. She released a total of 12 albums and many records. She was rewarded with 4 Golden Records for her famous "Senden Başka", "Oh Olsun", "Ah Nerede" and "Alo Ben Füsun Album". During the 2000s, she released CDs of her well-known "Oldies-Goldies" songs.

She's one of a "rare" singer who carried her fame from the 1970s up to the 2000s.

Füsun is also a photographer. From 1990 to 2000, she had 14 personal photograph exhibitions sponsored by some well-known banks and big companies.

In 1990 a new page opened in her life. She had been discovered as a writer by well-known Turkish writer Tarık Dursun K. and world-famous writer Aziz Nesin. Then she signed a contract with one of Turkey's oldest and renowned publishing company İnkılap Kitapevi. Up today she wrote 20 books such as "Aslında Hüzündü Hepsinin Yaşadığı", "Utanmaz Kitap", "Silikon Hayatlar, "Bay G", "Matrak Sultan", "Ruhsar Hanım", "Sevişmenin Rengi", "Gezikolik", "Hayatımdan Sayfalar-Şöhretistan", "Benim Adım Aşk" for İnkılap Kitapevi.

Nowadays, she is performing in Theatre Kedi, the role of Countess Rosina Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro directed by Hakan Altıner.