Nurmukhan Zhanturin was born in the settlement of Kondaurovo, Guriev Region (now known as Atyrau Region, Kazakhstan) on April 22, 1928. At the age of 14 he started working as an operator's assistant in a Guriev oil prospecting group, and later attended motion picture operator courses in Alma-Ata.

He graduated from Alma-Ata Movie School in 1950 and the Acting Dept. of the Ostrovsky Institute of Performing Arts (Tashkent) in 1952[4] and soon joined Auezov Theater. His first screen roles go back to 1948, while 1967 saw Zhanturin officially employed at Kazakhfilm Studios.