Gulsen Tundzer, Arsen From Forbidden Fruit, Dies at 80

Turkish actress Gulsen Tundzer, remembered by audiences here for her role as Arsen Zijagil in the drama “Forbidden Fruit,” died on September 17, 2026, in a hospital in Istanbul at 80. Her death was announced by the Film-San Foundation, where Tundzer served as vice president from 2009 to 2011.

The actress had spent years being treated for a brain tumor which, according to earlier reports in Turkish media, had reached stage four and had taken away her ability to speak and write. The Film-San Foundation said her condition was further worsened by organ failure and breathing problems, which ultimately caused her death. No source has given the exact hour of death, only the date.

The foundation posted its condolences to the family and loved ones on social media.

We extend our condolences to the family and loved ones of Gulsen Tundzer, a Turkish theater, film and television actress who served as vice president of our Film-San Foundation from 2009 to 2011.

The message was posted in Turkish, and it was picked up by the Turkish outlets that first reported the actress’s death.

Who was Gulsen Tundzer

Tundzer was born on October 20, 1945, in Adana. She trained as an actress at the theater department of the Istanbul City Conservatory, where her teachers included Yildiz Kenter and Ayla Algan, two names that carry institutional status in Turkish theater. She began her professional career in 1968, with a role in “Zilli Zarife,” staged by the Gulriz Sururi and Engin Cezzar theater company.

Over the following decades, Tundzer built a career that spanned theater, film and television at once. Besides acting, she also worked as an assistant director on dozens of film projects, did dubbing work and wrote song lyrics, and for a time she taught as well.

The role Serbia remembers her for

Tundzer earned her greatest popularity, both in Turkey and abroad, for the role of Arsen Zijagil in the series “Ask-i Memnu,” which aired on Kanal D from 2008 to 2010. The show is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Halit Ziya Usakligil, written at the end of the nineteenth century. It follows the wealthy Adnan Zijagil, his younger wife Bihter, and the plot that unfolds when she falls in love with Adnan’s nephew Behlul. Arsen is Adnan’s sister in the story.

In Serbia, the series aired in 2011 on Prva TV under the title “Forbidden Fruit,” and the character played by Tundzer was one of the most recognizable in the cast. The same show ran in Croatia under the title “Passions of the Orient,” while the American network Telemundo produced its own remake in 2012, titled “Pasion Prohibida.”

Beyond “Ask-i Memnu,” Tundzer appeared in the series “Mrs. Fazilet and Her Daughters” and “Three Istanbuls,” and her filmography also includes the 1991 film “Soğuktu ve Yağmur Çiseliyordu” and the 1988 film “Bir Tren Yolculuğu.” She won festival awards for best supporting actress for her roles in both films, honors that, together with her role as Arsen, made her one of the enduring names of Turkish acting through the 1990s and 2000s.

A career spanning half a century

Gulsen Tundzer leaves behind a career of nearly six decades, from her stage debut in 1968 to her final television roles. Turkish media describe her as an actress whose work went beyond any single role, since she was active in film, television and theater at the same time, and also worked behind the camera as an assistant director.

The Film-San Foundation, where she served as vice president for two years, remains an organization that brings together professionals from the Turkish film industry, and it was that same institution, one she had once helped lead, that was the first to announce her death.