Leading Turkish actress Ayşen Gruda died on Wednesday, aged 74.
Ergun Kasapoğlu, the chief physician of Derindere Hospital in Istanbul, said Gruda had been receiving medical treatment for pancreas cancer for one-and-a-half-years, adding:
"We have lost Ms. Ayşen at 13.45 (1045GMT). She was receiving intensive care for nearly 20 days for respiratory distress."
Gruda previously fought pancreatic cancer and was under intensive care for the past three weeks at a hospital in Istanbul where she died.
Gruda starred mainly in comedies, many of which are now among the classics of Turkish film industry. She was one of the last remaining representatives of the Turkish movie genre known as Yesilçam, the name of a central Istanbul street that was the Turkish Hollywood from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Turkey's Parliament Speaker Binali Yıldırım and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of Turkey's opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) also offered their sympathy following the announcement of Gruda's passing.
Gruda had "left a lasting mark in our memories," Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay tweeted.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Ersoy shared his condolences on Twitter, refering to Gruda as "a great artist of Turkish theatre and cinema."
"The mother of us all is gone. She had taught love, humanity and several good deeds to generations," her grandson Emre Gruda told a televised announcement of her death.
GRUDA TAKES PART IN MORE THAN 50 MOVIES
Gruda was born in Istanbul in 1944 as the middle child of the Erman family. Her first acting performance was as a maid in a music hall in 1962.
She was married to Yılmaz Gruda between 1965 and 1976.
Gruda was known as "Miss Tomato" after her playing the character Miss Tomato Nahide Şerbet on a sketch comedy television show.
Gruda took part in more than 50 movies, some of which are Bizim Aile (1975), Aile Şerefi (1976), Tosun Paşa (1976), Çöpçüler Krali (1977), Gülen Gözler (1977), Çiçek Abbas (1982) and Hacivat Karagöz Neden Öldürüldü? (2006).
She won the Sadri Alışık Awards on theater and cinema in 2006 and an Antalya-based Golden Orange Award in 2010 for Best Actress, and received the Istanbul Film Festival's Honorary Award in 2012.
Gruda's burial and funeral services will be held at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery on Friday.
