Portrait of Turhan Bey

Birthday profile

Turhan Bey

Turhan Bey, American actor (died 2012)

Born
March 30, 1922
Died
September 30, 2012
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1922

About Turhan Bey

Turhan Bey (born Turhan Gilbert Selahattin Şahultavi, 30 March 1922 – 30 September 2012) was an Austrian-born actor of Turkish and Czech-Jewish origins. Active in Hollywood from 1941 to 1953, he was dubbed "The Turkish Delight" by his fans. After his return to Austria, he pursued careers as a photographer and stage director. Returning to Hollywood after a 40-year hiatus, he made several guest appearances in 1990s television series including SeaQuest DSV, Murder, She Wrote and Babylon 5 as well as a number of films. After retiring, he appeared in a number of documentaries, including a German-language documentary on his life. == Life and career == Bey was born Turhan Gilbert Selahattin Şahultavi in Vienna, Austria, on 30 March 1922, as the son of Turhan Bey, a Turkish diplomat, and Irma Meyer, a Czech-Jewish woman. After the Anschluss annexing Austria to Nazi Germany and his parents' divorce, he and his mother immigrated to the United States in October 1938, initially settling in New Hampshire. In 1939, they moved to Los Angeles. === Acting === Bey was an acting student at Ben Bard's School of Dramatic Art and was active in the Pasadena Playhouse. When he enrolled in classes to improve his English, he was asked to play a role in a teacher's play.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Turhan Bey timeline

  1. Bey's first "A" movie in color was Arabian Nights (1942) with Maria Montez, Jon Hall and Sabu directed by Rawlins; Bey had a support role as a captain.
  2. Turhan Bey's long absence from Hollywood was referenced in the first part of the 1969 Get Smart episode "To Sire, with Love".

The world when Turhan Bey was born

Turhan Bey was born in 1922. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1922

  • #1 song"Chicago" – Fred Fisher
  • Top movieNosferatu
  • Best-selling bookUlysses – James Joyce

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentGene Sarazen wins the U.S. Open at age 20
  • Top headlineMussolini marches on Rome and seizes power in Italy
  • Technology milestoneBBC begins radio broadcasts
  • Defining fadCrossword puzzles
  • Notable inventionWater skiing invented in Minnesota
  • World population1.90 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWarren G. Harding
  • Sports championNew York Giants (World Series)
  • U.S. population110.0M

1922 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Turhan Bey's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19222026
Gas$0.25$3.45/gal
Average home$5,600$435,000
Average income$3,270$67,500
Movie ticket$0.15$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population110.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.