Turhan Bey (born Turhan Gilbert Selahattin Şahultavi, 30 March 192230 September 2012) was an Austrian-born actor of Turkish and Czech-Jewish origins. Active in Hollywood from 1941 to 1953, he was dubbed "The Turkish Delight" by his fans. After his return to Austria, he pursued careers as a photographer and stage director. Returning to Hollywood after a 40-year hiatus, he made several guest appearances in 1990s television series including SeaQuest DSV, Murder, She Wrote and Babylon 5 as well as a number of films. After retiring, he appeared in a number of documentaries, including a German-language documentary on his life. Life and career Bey was born Turhan Gilbert Selahattin Şahultavi in Vienna, Austria, on 30 March 1922, as the son of a Turkish diplomat and a Czechoslovakian-Jewish mother. After the Anschluss annexing Austria to Nazi Germany and his parents' divorce, he and his mother emigrated to the United States in October 1938, initially settling in New Hampshire. In 1939, they moved to Los Angeles. Acting Bey was an acting student at Ben Bard's School of Dramatic Art and was active in the Pasadena Playhouse. When he enrolled in classes to improve his English, he was asked to play a role in a teacher's play. Bey says it was Bard who helped come up with his stage name. He said, "He knew that 'Bey' was a term of respect in Turkey so said 'Why don't we just make it Turhan Bey?'" In December 1939, he appeared in Bard's Talent Scout Revue on stage. "Vivid playing and several fine characterizations distinguished the evening", reported the Los Angeles Times. A talent scout from Warner Brothers was in the audience, was impressed and signed him to a contract, under the name of Turhan Bey. Warner Bros Bey appeared in a number of films in small roles, usually playing someone sinister: Shadows on the Stairs (1941), and Footsteps in the Dark (1941) with Errol Flynn. Warners then dropped him. Universal Bey moved to Universal, where he had small roles in Raiders of the Desert (1941) (which had an early appearance from Maria Montez), and Burma Convoy (1941). He went to RKO to appear in The Gay Falcon (1941), the first in The Falcon series of B movies. He returned to Universal for a small role in Bombay Clipper (1942), starring Montez and directed by John Rawlins. Bey had a slightly bigger part in Unseen Enemy (1942),