Şevket Çoruh

He was born in Istanbul on June 30, 1973. He is the only child of an Artvin family that migrated from Anaçlı village in Ardahanuç at the end of the War of 93 to Istanbul and settled in Muratlı village, which is now submerged under the waters of Ömerli Dam. His mother's side is from Sapancalı and has Georgian and Laz origins. His mother was a tailor and his father was a minibus driver. Çoruh completed his primary and middle school education at Taşmektep Primary School in Üsküdar and lived in Maltepe from the age of 14 until 24. He finished high school at Kartal Anatolian High School. After graduating from high school, he received theatre training at the Müjdat Gezen Art Center. Since 1989, he has appeared in various theatrical plays. He gained fame with his character "Kokoreççi" in an advertisement for an internet company. In 1997, he prepared and hosted the program 'Şaka Yaptık' together with Sinem Üretmen. His comedy Caveman, which was performed as the longest solo play in his Broadway career, made it into the record books when staged in Turkey. From 2006 to 2022, he acted in the series Arka Sokaklar. He became known for his role as Commissioner Mesut Güner in the series and for his acting in films such as Eğreti Gelin, Usta, and film series like İnşaat (Construction) and Çakallarla Dans.

On April 3, 2017, Çoruh opened his theatre named Baba Sahne in Kadıköy, Istanbul, using his own financial resources. At the opening of the theatre, Müjdat Gezen presented Çoruh with the fez belonging to İsmail Dümbüllü—a symbol of tulûat in Turkish theatre—which had been passed to him by Münir Özkul. In 2017, during a performance of "Bir Baba Hamlet," an adaptation of Hamlet staged at Baba Sahne, Çoruh was recognized as Best Male Actor in the Comedy/Musical category at the Emek and Achievement Theatre Awards 2018 alongside his scene partner Murat Akkoyunlu; he also received the Haldun Dormen Special Award at the 22nd Afife Jale Awards. On August 27, 2020, actor Rasim Öztekin announced via a statement that he would transfer the kavuk representing Dümbüllü's orta oyunu to Çoruh; this transfer was formalized on September 22, 2020, at a special handover ceremony organized by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) at the Harbiye Cemil Topuzlu Open-Air Theatre. Thus, these two symbols of traditional Turkish theatre were once again united in a single person for the third time after many years.