In Memoriam | Seyfi Dursunoğlu (1932-2020)

Seyfi Dursunoğlu, better known as Turkey’s most famous drag queen “Huysuz Virjin” (Grumpy Virgin), died on July 17 in hospital in Istanbul due to complications from pneumonia brought by COPD.. He was 87.

In 2007, Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) announced that his program could no longer be broadcast on television channels and that he would no longer revive the character of Huysuz Virjin but he presented the dance program Huysuz'la Dans Eder misin? on Show TV in 2012. In the same year, he joined Benzemez Kimse Sana as a judge which aired on Star TV. On the program's final episode, he appeared as Huysuz Virjin and said "This is my last kanto", implying that he could not sing kanto again due to his age. He later announced that he would donate ₺15 million of his property to the Association for the Support of Contemporary Living.

Mavi Boncuk |

Dursunoğlu, a household name who had captured the hearts of many, had been in intensive care for three days. He was hospitalized for 15 days for pneumonia and had been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Acıbadem Altunizade Hospital said in a written statement.

From the 1970s until the 2000s, Dursunoğlu produced entertainment programs for television in Turkey with his character Huysuz Virjin and has become a well-known entertainment figure in the country. Huysuz Virjin was a witty, but often grumpy, character who had a kinky sense of humor. The character was very much loved by the nation. But Huysuz began appearing less frequently after the mid-2000’s.

Born in 1932, Dursunoğlu was born into a religious family in the Black Sea province of Trabzon. He and his family later moved to Istanbul, where he started studying at the Heybeliada Military Marine High School at the request of his father. Later dropping out of that school, he transferred to Boğaziçi High School. He then went on to study English Language and Literature at university but had to quit school because of financial problems.

After completing his military service as a reserve officer in Istanbul’s Tuzla and Hadımköy districts, he became a civil servant with the Turkish Social Security Authority (SSK) for 18 years. He quit his monotonous job and created the legendary Huysuz Virjin character in 1970. First, he started performing in small clubs, but as his reputation grew within the entertainment world, he began receiving offers from larger clubs. He shared the stage with Turkey’s largest soloists at the İzmir Fair every year in Turkey’s western province.

Filmography

Television
Gülünüz Güldürünüz (1976)
Huysuz ve Tatlı Kadın (1997-1998)
Huysuz Şimdi Hostes (1998)
Huysuz Show (1998)
Tatlı ve Huysuz Show (2002)
Turkstar (2004)
Huysuz'la Görücü Usulü (2008)
Dans Eder misin? (2005-2011)
Benzemez Kimse Sana (2012-2015)
Huysuz'la Yılbaşı Özel (2018)

Cinema
Sarhoş (1977)
Nokta ile Virgül Paldır Küldür (1979)
Melek Yüzlü Cani (1986) - Seyfi
Avrupa Yakası (2005) - Süheyla (50 episodes)
İmkansız Aşk (2006) - Komşu (3 episodes)