Lukas Turtur was born in Munich in 1984 and grew up in Schwabing before moving to Münsing in Upper Bavaria at the age of 15. While attending a Waldorf school in Munich, he gained his first stage experience in the school theater. After moving to Münsing, he joined the amateur theater group in Icking at the age of 14. According to Turtur himself, the desire to become an actor developed towards the end of his school years.

After graduating from high school in 2003, he first trained as an emergency medical technician, with the intention of eventually going to medical school (both of his parents are doctors). However, things took a different turn: In 2005, Turtur successfully applied to study acting at the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule in Munich, which he graduated from in 2008. While still a student, Turtur appeared on stage at the Münchner Kammerspiele. In 2006, he was awarded the O. E. Hasse Prize for Best Young Actor. In 2007/2008 Turtur appeared as a guest at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg, the Münchner Kammerspiele and the Schauspielhaus Zürich. His first film roles also date from this period: in Marcus H. Rosenmüller's Bavarian coming-of-age films "Beste Zeit" (2007) and "Beste Gegend" (2008), in Rosenmüller's historical film "Räuber Kneißl" (2008), and in Bettina Oberli's dark thriller "Tannöd" (2009).

After graduating, Turtur was worked at the Stadttheater Bern from 2009 to 2011, first as a guest actor and then as a ensemble member. In 2011, he joined the ensemble of the Münchner Residenztheater, and for the 2016/17 season, he moved to the Berliner Schaubühne. There, he portrayed, among other roles, an intrusive reality TV editor in the comedy "Peng" (2017), a sadistic protocol chief in Milo Rau's "Lenin" (2017), and an entertainer in Rainald Goetz's "Jeff Koons" (2018). Turtur's performance at the Salzburg Festival 2019 is also noteworthy, where he portrayed eight different characters in Ödön von Horváth's "Youth Without God".

In addition to his extensive stage work, Lukas Turtur occasionally appeared in television and film productions. He played a leading role in the award-winning Austrian film "Tomcat" (2016), depicting the relationship crisis of a gay couple in Vienna. He had smaller roles in Annika Pinske's provincial study "Alle reden übers Wetter" ("Talking About the Weather", 2022) and in Jessica Hausner's psychodrama "Club Zero" (AT/DE/FR 2023). In the drama "Ivo" (2024), Turtur played a leading role as the husband of a terminally ill woman who has a relationship with her palliative caregiver.