Film star Chaim Topol, well known for his lead role in Fiddler on the Roof, passed away at 87. After losing the battle with Alzheimer’s the day before, Israel’s president Isaac Herzog announced his death, calling him a “gifted actor who conquered many stages in Israel and overseas, filled the cinema screens with his presence and especially entered deep into our hearts.”
Born in 1935, Topol was introduced to American audiences through his role as the titular character in 1964’s Israeli comedy Sallah Shabati. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and Topol gained recognition for his talent at the Golden Globes, where he was nominated for Most Promising Newcomer-Male. The New York Times praised the film as “a rarity in the annals of the tiny Israeli movie colony…more educational than hilarious”, calling Topol and the ensemble cast “an unusual, endearing, often colorful lot, but their humor is largely rudimentary.”
Eventually, Topol cemented his illustrious career in 1967 with Fiddler on the Roof’s West End debut, where he performed as hapless father Tevye for about 2,030 performances. Later in 1971, he reprised his role in Norman Jewison’s film adaptation. Thanks to his well-received performance, he was Oscar-nominated for Best Actor alongside the award for Best Feature. Despite the film only winning awards for cinematography, sound, and music, the film version helped solidify Topol’s reputation. He would later reprise the role several times for several Broadway revivals, including a 1990-91 run in which he would be nominated for a Tony for Best Actor.
The next several decades would prove to be fruitful for the Israeli actor. In 1980, he joined the cast of Flash Gordon as Dr. Hans Zarkov alongside Sam J. Jones, Max von Sydow, and Brian Blessed. The year after, Topol ventured with Roger Moore’s James Bond as Greek smuggler Columbo in For Your Eyes Only to help him rally forces against Julian Glover’s Kristatos. His last feature would be in 1998’s Left Luggage, a dramatic Dutch film about a liberated nanny working for an Orthodox Hassidic family.
Later in his life, he moved his career toward writing and illustrating books alongside sketches for various public figures, including one of himself for a commemorative stamp for the 50th anniversary of Fiddler.
Yesterday, Topol’s family proclaimed that he was in his final hours and asked for privacy.
Chaim Topol then passed away peacefully overnight.
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