Born on May 28, 1942 in Istanbul, he grew up in Ankara and came to Istanbul in his last year of high school and graduated from Kabataş High School. In 1963, he started his career at the State Theater. After joining AST in 1965, Mehmet Ulay went to England in 1969 and worked at the Oldwick Theater. When he returned to Turkey two years later, he worked as a manager, actor and assistant director at the Ankara Art Theater. After a while, Ulay went abroad again and conducted research on theater in Germany and the United States. After his return, he starred in movies, TV series and TV commercials. In 1995, he appeared in the Renault Clio commercial.