Özbeğen opened up about his homosexuality as an adult and, gay marriage being illegal in the 1990s, he adopted his life partner. He also worked a guest actor in the television series Perihan Abla ( Sister Perihan), one of the most popular productions of the 1980s.
FERDI OZBEGEN MOVIE
In 1980, he starred in the movie Tanrıya Feryat ("Howl to God") in 1980 with Gülşen Bubikoğlu, Tanju Gürsu, and Hulusi Kentmen. He recorded overall some 28 albums in his career.
On 1977, he released his first album and won a sales award for "Sohbet" ("Conversation") as well as a golden-piano award for "Mutluluklar" ("Happiness"). He soon established himself as a performer of fantezi urban folk music. In 1965, Özbegen, along with the orchestra he'd put together, participated in the "Golden Microphone" competition organized by the Hürriyet newspaper, performing the songs "Kes Kes" ("Cut Cut") and "Sandığımı Açamadım" ("I Can't Open My Chest"). When his father died in 1963, he turned to music in a professional capacity. He graduated from Istanbul University in Economics in 1960. Their son's name was originally "Ferdinand." At some point, the family moved to Istanbul, where young Ferdi enrolled for his secondary education into the Mıhitaryan School.Īt the age of 11, Özbeğen, along with his secondary school tuition started taking music lessons at home.
His father was Hassan Özbeğen, an immigrant from Crete, and his mother Afet "Anita" Özbeğen, a Catholic Armenian from Ankara. Ferdi Özbeğen was born on 17 August 1941, in Izmir.