Chaim Topol, well remembered for his role of Tevye the milkman in Fiddler on the Roof, has passed away at the age of 87, according to Israel’s president.
President Isaac Herzog confirmed his passing, describing Topol as “one of the titans of Israeli culture.”
Topol was nominated for an Academy Award for his singing performance in the film adaption of the musical in 1971.
His other notable film roles included appearances in Flash Gordon, Follow Me and For Your Eyes Only.
Topol, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease several years ago, was referred to by Herzog as “a superb actor who conquered numerous stages in Israel and abroad, filled film screens with his presence, and most importantly, penetrated our hearts.”
He added that the actor, musician, and illustrator had “represented us with tremendous respect.”
Never surpass Topol
The tributes were led by British actor and comedian Omid Djalili, who followed in Topol’s footsteps by portraying Tevye in a staging of the musical at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2017.
“Anyone who portrays Tevye knows he can never surpass Topol,” he wrote. God bless his soul
Uri Geller, an Israeli-British television personality, also paid his condolences by posting a photo of himself with the late “kind and modest” actor and former Israeli president Shimon Peres.
Meanwhile, Frozen star Josh Gad stated,
“I cannot emphasize the significance of this man and this performance to me.
“Topol is a significant reason I became an actress. In fact, his Tevye performance in Fiddler was the very first Broadway performance I ever witnessed. R.I.P. to a legend.”
Topol was born in Tel Aviv in 1935 and began his acting career while serving in the Israeli army with an entertainment troupe.
The Israeli comedy Sallah Shabati, depicting the struggles of a Mizrachi Jewish immigrant family in Israel in the early 1960s, brought him to attention and earned him the Golden Globe for a most promising male newcomer.
More film roles followed in Israel and the United States, including the title role in the 1975 adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s Galileo, as Dr. Hans Zarkov in the 1980 science fiction adventure Flash Gordon, alongside Brian Blessed, and as the smuggler Milos Columbo in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only, opposite Sir Roger Moore.
Yet he may be most recognized for his portrayal of Tevye, a tormented milkman in the town of Anatevka who seeks to retain his Jewish customs by marrying off his five daughters.
The performance of songs such as If I Were a Rich Man earned him a second Golden Globe, this time for best actor.
In 1972, while serving in the Israeli military, he was nominated for an Oscar Award, becoming the first Israeli actor to do so. Yet, he was granted permission to attend the Los Angeles event.
The actor told Desert Island Discs in 1983 that he still considered the producers “extremely courageous” for giving him the part.
“Given that I was 30 years old and that my English was so weak – a vocabulary of 50 words – I still do not get why they gave it to me.”
At the time, the decision to cast Topol instead of US actor Zero Mostel, who had made the character famous on stage, was contentious, but Topol later expressed gratitude to Mostel.
Topol was once cited as saying,
“Every actor who portrays Tevye should be grateful to Zero Mostel.” “He gave us everyone space, and I wouldn’t have been able to perform the film without a year of practice on stage.”
He was also nominated for a Tony Award for best actor for his performance in the 1991 Broadway version of Fiddler on the Roof.
Topol said he performed the role more than 3,500 times from the late 1960s to 2009 on stages around the world.
Apart from acting, the philanthropic star launched Variety Israel, an organization that provides assistance to disabled children and their families.
Also, he served as the president of Jordan River Village, a free overnight camp for Israeli children who are ill.
In a 2005 poll conducted by the Israeli news website Ynet, Topol was ranked as the 90th-greatest Israeli of all time. And ten years later, he was awarded the Israel Prize, the nation’s highest honor, for lifetime achievement and unique contribution to society and the state.
His wife Galia and their three children survive him.
Last Thursday, his son Omer Topol described his father as an “excellent actor who used a variety of cover-up strategies when issues began to appear.”
“His Alzheimer’s was in its first stages when he got the Israel Prize,” he stated.
“He talked magnificently during the ceremony, as well as at other gatherings, and no one noticed.”
Also Read: Is Deadliest Catch’s Josh Harris Wed? Family And Wealth
