Chaim Topol, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ actor, dies aged 87

Known internationally as Tevye the Milkman in “Fiddler on the Roof”, Israeli actor Chaim Topol died at his home in Israel on Wednesday.

Topol’s death at the age of 87 was announced in a statement in which Israel’s President Isaac Herzog praised him as “one of the most outstanding Israeli actors” who “filled movie screens with his presence and, above all, everything, went deep into our hearts.” Herzog called him “a giant of Israeli culture” who “will be greatly missed”.

Benny Gantz, Israel’s former defense minister, also paid tribute to Topol for helping Israelis connect with their roots. “We laugh and cry at the same time about the deepest wounds in Israeli society,” he tweeted.

Topol was considered the first Israeli actor to make an international career. In addition to his trademark role, he starred in over 30 films, including “Galileo” (1975), “Flash Gordon” (1980) and 1981’s James Bond “For Your Eyes Only” alongside Roger Moore.

From humble beginnings to stardom

Born in 1935, Topol was raised in a working-class neighborhood in Tel Aviv. His father was a Russian-born plasterer and his mother a seamstress.

At the age of 14, he began working as a typesetter’s apprentice during the day and continued his studies at night school.

He lived on a kibbutz for a year, before being drafted into the army, where his acting career began as part of an Israeli army entertainment troupe. It was also here that he met his future wife, Galia. The couple married in 1956 and had three children. Topol also started a theater company on the kibbutz, where he first settled with his wife.

Topol’s international breakthrough came with his starring role in the hit 1964 Israeli film “Sallah Shabati”, a social satire by Ephraim Kishon depicting the struggles of a family of Middle Eastern Jewish immigrants living in a “ma’abara”. The infamous transit camps in Israel in the 1950s were built to accommodate the influx of immigrants arriving in the young state and a symbol of suffering for Jewish immigrants from Arab countries.

It was the first Israeli film to receive an Academy Award nomination, and it also won Topol his first Golden Globe, as Most Promising Newcomer. The film opened and closed the Berlin Film Festival.

role of a lifetime

Topol’s lifelong role arrived in 1966 with “Fiddler on the Roof”, a musical piece based on short stories written by Sholem Aleichem (entitled “Tevye the Dairyman” or sometimes “Tevye’s Daughters”). The actor played Tevye, a pious Jewish milkman from a small shtetl in Imperial Russia, who struggles to maintain his family’s cultural traditions in a world of instability and change.

After years of playing Tevye on stage in London and on Broadway, he landed the lead role in 1971 in the film version directed by Norman Jewison. Topol was only 30 years old, while the character he played was much older. However, this was successfully achieved with the help of heavy makeup and costume work.

As a descendant of Russian Jews, Topol also felt that his personal background helped him understand his character and better embody Tevye.

Over the years, he aged into the role he continued to play on stage – over 3,500 times – until 2009.

Israel Lifetime Achievement Award

In addition to acting, Topol has also donated his time to charitable causes and was chairman of the board of Jordan River Village, a free overnight camp for Middle Eastern children with disabilities, chronic or serious illnesses. The star said in an interview with the Associated Press news agency that she found her charity work even more rewarding than running from one role to another.

In 2015, he was awarded the Israel Lifetime Achievement Award, the state’s most prestigious honor. It was also when his early stages of Alzheimer’s started. His son Omer recently told an Israeli news agency that his father was an “incredible actor who developed all kinds of tactics to cover up the problems that started to emerge” through the neurodegenerative disease.

In an interview with the Associated Press after his Israeli award, Topol noted that he was surprised to see how many people around the world recognized him. The fact that his fame was tied to “one part” didn’t bother him: “How many people in my profession are known around the world?” he asked. “I’m not complaining.”

Despite his worldwide fame, he never forgot his origins. As he stated in that 2015 interview, “I wasn’t raised in Hollywood. I was raised on a kibbutz.”

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier