CHAIM TOPOL

(9 September 1935 - 9 March 2023)

The Israeli actor and singer Chaim Topol — or just Topol as he was known — has died aged 87 from Alzheimer's disease. He will always be remembered for his portrayal of Tevye, the milkman in the stage musical Fiddler on the Roof. He did not originate the role on Broadway in 1964 because that went to Zero Mostel, who also played the lead in the 1976 revival. Topol first played Tevye in the Israeli production in 1966 and was then cast in the original West End production in 1967. At first, because he was not an English speaker, he committed the Broadway recording to memory and with a vocal coach became fluent in the language. He was a great success in the part and initially played Tevye in London for over 400 performances, did the 1990 Broadway revival, a US tour, two London revivals and toured Australia. By 2009, Topol reckoned he had played the role some 3,500 times. Rather like Yul Brynner and The King and I, Tevye took over Topol’s career. He also starred in Norman Jewison’s 1971 film.

Chaim Topol was born in Tel Aviv to his Russian father Jacob Topol, a plasterer, and his wife Imrela, a seamstress. As a child Chaim, wanted to be a commercial artist but when his teacher saw the boy had acting abilities, that was the path he took. As a teenager he worked in printing and after graduating joined the Israeli army and set up a stage company. He served in the Sinai Campaign, joined a Kibbutz and created a touring theatre group.

From 1961 he appeared in some Israeli films until Melville Shavelson put him in Cast a Giant Shadow (1966), an action drama about Colonel Mickey Marcus with Kirk Douglas. Then J. Lee Thompson cast him in Before Winter Comes (1969), a war film with David Niven and John Hurt. After A Talent for Loving (also 1969), a comedy Western in which Topol played General Molina with Richard Widmark, along came the film of Fiddler on the Roof. It was a personal success for Topol who won a Golden Globe among other awards. He made some thirty films including Carol Reed's Follow Me! (aka The Public Eye) a comedy with Mia Farrow, Joseph Losey's adaptation of Brecht’s Galileo and played Dr Zarkov in Mike Hodges’ Flash Gordon. Topol was also Milos Columbo, on the side of Roger Moore's 007, in For Your Eyes Only. He was in several TV series - The Winds of War, Queenie, War and Remembrance, SeaQuestDSV and documentaries on Fiddler on the Roof and James Bond. He also returned to the stage for productions of Othello, The Baker's Wife, Ziegfeld and Gigi. Chaim Topol married Galia Finkelstein in 1956 and they have a son, Omer, and two daughters, Ady and Anat. He published his memoirs and a book of Jewish humour, was also an illustrator for some 25 books and drew Israeli presidents for postage stamps. His charities supported special needs children and the Jordan River Village camp for all children with life-threatening diseases.

MICHAEL DARVELL