--- name: "Birol Ünel" canonical: "https://film.one/person/birol-unel" fi1m_id: "birol-unel" imdb_id: "nm0960379" tmdb_id: 5117 wikidata_id: "Q25839" roles: ["Actor"] born: "18 August 1961" died: "3 September 2020" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-26T18:18:09.969480+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Birol Ünel ## Identity Birol Ünel - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/birol-unel - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** birol-unel - **IMDb ID:** nm0960379 - **TMDB ID:** 5117 - **Wikidata ID:** Q25839 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birol_%C3%9Cnel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25839, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0960379/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5117 Actor. Born 18 August 1961 in Silifke, Mersin, Turkey. Died 3 September 2020. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 18 August 1961, Silifke, Mersin, Turkey - **Died:** 3 September 2020 - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birol_%C3%9Cnel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25839, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0960379/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5117 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Head-On*](https://film.one/film/head-on.md) (72) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Biography Birol Ünel (18 August 1961 – 3 September 2020) was a Turkish-German actor who appeared in German and Turkish films, television and theatre. Born in Silifke, Mersin, Turkey, his family moved to Germany in 1968. He studied acting at the Musikhochschule Hannover. Ünel began his career in theatre, including at the Berliner Tacheles, where he played the lead and directed *Caligula*. His film debut was in *The Passenger* (1988). He gained recognition for roles in Fatih Akın’s films, including *In July* (2000) and *Soul Kitchen* (2009). He is best known for portraying Cahit Tomruk in *Head-On* (2004), for which he received the Deutscher Filmpreis for Best Actor. Other credits include *Enemy at the Gates* (2001) and *Transylvania* (2006). Ünel died in Berlin in 2020. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, thewrap.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *Head-On* (2004), Fi1m 72, as Cahit Tomruk — [page](https://film.one/film/head-on.md) ## Complete filmography (52) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Hürkuş: Göklerdeki Kahraman* (2018), as İvan - *Falling* (2016), as Aslan - *Plan B* (2016), as Hausmeister - *Back to Nothing* (2016), as Kongo - *I'm Off Then* (2015), as Americo - *Netekim Karakolu* (2015), Actor - *Looking for Eimish* (2012), as Lupô - *Showman Olli Schulz* (2012), as Therapeut - *Sleepless Night* (2011), as Yilmaz - *The Cricket* (2011), as Worker - *Soul Kitchen* (2009), as Shayn Weiss - *The Moon and Other Lovers* (2008), as Gansar - *Valerie* (2007), as Jaro - *The Unpolished* (2007), as Axel - *House of the Sleeping Beauties* (2006), as Herr Gold - *Transylvania* (2006), as Tchangalo - *KRIMI.DE* (2005), series, as Herr Weiß - *Robbery Alla Turca* (2005), as Pamir - *Kalbin Zamanı* (2004), as Demir - *German Dream* (2004), as Birol Ünel - *Head-On* (2004), as Cahit Tomruk — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/head-on.md) - *Not a Lovestory* (2004), as Guru - *King of Thieves* (2003), as Birol - *Der gestohlene Mond* (2003), as Nick - *Blackberry* (2002), as Sylvester - *My Mother* (2002), as Hasan - *Inspektor Rolle* (2002), series, as Tschokan Bischkek - *Enemy at the Gates* (2001), as Politruk - *Planet Alex* (2001), as Milan - *Der Puma - Kämpfer mit Herz* (2000), series, as Bernd Schlegel - *In July* (2000), as Club Doyen - *Tour Abroad* (2000), as Osman - *Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht* (1999), as Günther - *Unknown Friend* (1999), as Moritz - *Dealer* (1999), as Erdal - *Der Clown* (1998), series, as Cosmo Nunnari - *Frankfurt Millennium* (1998), as Mustafa - *Tierarzt Dr. Engel* (1998), series, as Siggi Kirchlechner - *Dead Pool* (1997), series, as Zohair Y. Akache aka 'Captain Mahmoud' - *Buddies - Leben auf der Überholspur* (1997), Actor - *Friedemann Brix - Eine Schwäche für Mord* (1996), series, as Dieter Lohmann - *Landing for Ringo* (1996), as Yusuf - *Alarm for Cobra 11: The Motorway Police* (1996), series, as Harkan Bülent - *Balko* (1995), series, as Tobias Wölke, Achim Koch - *Mau Mau* (1992), as Schulte - *A Wopbobaloobop a Lopbamboom* (1990), Actor - *The Passenger – Welcome to Germany* (1988), Actor - *Der Fahnder* (1984), series, as Nick Peters, Erol - *A Case For Two* (1981), series, as Klaus - *Auf Achse* (1980), series, as Kemal - *Scene of the Crime* (1970), series, as Houari Al'Bakr, Gürkan Agban, Rico Baumann, Henkel - *North Pole*, Actor ## Gallery - ![Birol Ünel](https://film.one/media/person/3745391/gallery-25eb1f458590.jpg) Birol Ünel — Image via TMDB - ![Birol Ünel](https://film.one/media/person/3745391/gallery-86f00cafcf5b.jpg) Birol Ünel — Image via TMDB - ![Birol Ünel](https://film.one/media/person/3745391/gallery-e13d1798333e.jpg) Birol Ünel — Image via TMDB - ![Birol Ünel](https://film.one/media/person/3745391/gallery-c9c8f29a5db1.jpg) Birol Ünel — Image via TMDB - ![Birol Ünel](https://film.one/media/person/3745391/gallery-dbde3bcc4455.jpg) Birol Ünel — Image via TMDB - ![Birol Ünel](https://film.one/media/person/3745391/gallery-f2c9d32c197d.jpg) Birol Ünel — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Other awards — 0 won, 2 nominated - European Film Award for Best Actor 2004: European Film Award for Best Actor (nominated), for *Head-On* - Jameson People's Choice Award for Best Actor 2004: Jameson People's Choice Award for Best Actor (nominated), for *Head-On* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/birol-unel