Mehmet Ferda Biography
Summary
"Mehmet 'Mem' Ferda" (born October 30, 1963 in London) is a British actor of Turkish Cypriot descent.
Biography
Mem Ferda has long been sought after for his hypnotic presence on screen. Equally comfortable as hero or villain, he has a continually expanding filmography. This extremely talented and intelligent actor was born October 1963 in Chelsea, South West London. The son of a Turkish Agricultural Minister he became fascinated with the art of acting from a very young age. Having landed many TV roles and commercial work through a local agent whilst still in education, it was not until he had achieved a BSc Honors degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Business Administration (M.B.A.)that he then went on to act professionally.
Mem trained and graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Classical Acting from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). His pulsating enthusiasm to perfect his craft, led to further classes at RADA and to further workshops and explorations into various acting techniques. Mem is bilingual, speaking English and Turkish fluently. He is a master of Eastern European and American accents as well as native regional English accents. At 6 ft 2' with a powerful physique and rugged appeal, he often commands audiences into dangerous places of gangsters, psychopaths and killers, 'having such magnetism that leads one to believe he has the word 'charisma' tattooed across his chest'. Mem's list of notable 'baddies' are forever growing, these include; Dusan (The Crew), Hakeem (The Veteran), Vladimir (ill Manors), Andriy (Legacy), Egor (Emulsion) and recently Kamel Hannah in (The Devils Double). Mem's versatility however, is limitless and by no means confined to aggressive personalities alone. In ITV's popular drama 'Heartbeat', in which he plays the guest lead role, Andrei Beschastnykh, he can be seen delivering a very insightful and acutely perceptive performance of a softer, gentler type, which ultimately touches the hearts of viewers.
Mem's real life background, is as colorful, as some of the characters he leaves burnt into our memories. As a child he witnessed and assassination attempt on his father, as a student he was held at the Serbian border as a suspected drug smuggler and in Istanbul he was threatened at gunpoint. During his rebellious teens he narrowly avoided being the getaway driver in a real life heist! Obsessively punctual, by making him late, the heavy London traffic saved him from drowning on the pleasure craft Marchioness, a delay for which he is eternally grateful.
In his soon to be published Autobiography one message is crystal clear - he is both passionate and compassionate about his craft and in helping others to succeed. He is also an active and generous supporter of many international charities.
Theatre credits
Dr.Dudakov in Summerfolk
Shylock in The Merchant of Venice
Bosola in The Duchess of Malfi
Francis Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Brutus in Julius Caesar
Terrance in Fucking Games
External links
(Mem Ferda) Official website
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Mehmet Ferda.
