Esmeray, who was of
Afro-Turkish descent, was born on 25 February 1949, the
Emirgan district of
Istanbul. In 1960, Esmeray dropped out of her last year of
Emirgan Secondary School to join the Istanbul community theatre, and performed on stage for the first time in a children's play. She continued to perform at the Istanbul community theatre until 1965. After that, she went on to performing at bigger, more noted theatres, beginning in
Dün Gece Yolda Giderken Çok Komik Birşey Oldu (Last Night Something Really Funny Happened on the Streets) at the Dormen Theatre. She also performed in the Avni Dilligil, Özlem, Özlem Taşdelenler, and Sezer Sezin theatres. She starred in her last theatrical production in 1974 alongside
Muammer Karaca in
Mart Bakanı. She then moved on to cinematic productions, and the same year starred in
Sev Kardeşim and
Zilli Nazife, also making a guest appearance in
Unutama Beni. Esmeray started singing as an amateur in a choir produced by
Neriman Altındağ Tüfekçi. Esmeray won
TRT’s (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation) Toplu Igne Composition Contest award in 1974 for the song, ‘Unutama Beni (Do Not Forget Me). She was the wife of Şemi Diriker (alias "Erol Tanır"), a Turkish composer. and
Reyting Hamdi with Hamdi Alkan from the second half of the 1990s until 2002. Her final performance was in
Küçük Besleme as "Şule" in 2001. She died of
lung cancer on 25 March 2002, in
Acibadem, Istanbul. She is buried in
Zincirlikuyu Cemetery. ==Discography==