Akan attended Yıldız Technical University to study mechanical engineering, graduated later from the College of Journalist.

A right-wing politics daily defamed him with a false news in the headline for a speech he allegedly addressed in Germany in early 1981, leading to a long court case demanding for 12 years imprisonment.

He studied acting under the eye of famous Turkish film director Ertem Eğilmez (1929–1989) and entered into the "list of unforgettables" with Hababam Sınıfı, Bizim Aile, Canım Kardeşim.

He appeared with his ex girlfriend Emel Sayın in "Mavi Boncuk", "Yalancı Yarim", Hülya Koçyiğit in "Sev Kardeşim", "Yeryüzünde Bir Melek", Filiz Akın in Tatlı Dillim, Necla Nazır in "Delisin", "Ateş Böceği".

[1] He acted in a total of 110 films, and won numerous awards from various festivals including Cannes and Berlin.

In the early hours of 16 September 2016, he died at the age of 66 in the intensive care station of a private hospital in Istanbul.

The funeral was attended by thousands of people, his castmates, former President of Turkey Ahmet Necdet Sezer and the leader of the main opposition party Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.