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Chaim Topol (born September 9, 1935), often billed simply as Topol, is one of the most famous Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
i theatrical and film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 performers.

l was born in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv-Yafo , usually Tel Aviv, is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of cities in Israel in Israel, with an estimated population of 390,100....
, British Mandate of Palestine. He first practiced acting in amateur theatrical plays staged by the Israeli Army
Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew Acronym and initialism Tzahal , are Israel's military forces, comprising the GOC Army Headquarters, Israeli Air Force and Israeli navy....
. Subsequently he established his own theatre troupe in Tel Aviv, and in 1961 he significantly contributed to the foundation of the Haifa Municipal Theatre
Haifa Theatre

The Haifa Theatre is the municipal theater company of Haifa, Israel.Haifa Theater, Israel's first municipal theater, was established by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi....
.

Acting career
Among Topol's earliest film appearances was the lead role in the 1964 film Sallah Shabati
Sallah Shabati

Sallah Shabati is a 1964 in film Israel comedy film about the chaos of Aliyah and resettlement. This social satire placed the director Ephraim Kishon and producer Menahem Golan among the first Israeli filmmakers to achieve international success....
 by Ephraim Kishon
Ephraim Kishon

was an Israeli writer, satire, dramatist, screenwriter, and film director....
 — a play, later adapted for film, depicting the hardships of a Mizrachi Jewish immigrant family in Israel of the early 1950s.






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Chaim Topol (born September 9, 1935), often billed simply as Topol, is one of the most famous Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
i theatrical and film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 performers.

Biography

Topol was born in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv-Yafo , usually Tel Aviv, is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of cities in Israel in Israel, with an estimated population of 390,100....
, British Mandate of Palestine. He first practiced acting in amateur theatrical plays staged by the Israeli Army
Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew Acronym and initialism Tzahal , are Israel's military forces, comprising the GOC Army Headquarters, Israeli Air Force and Israeli navy....
. Subsequently he established his own theatre troupe in Tel Aviv, and in 1961 he significantly contributed to the foundation of the Haifa Municipal Theatre
Haifa Theatre

The Haifa Theatre is the municipal theater company of Haifa, Israel.Haifa Theater, Israel's first municipal theater, was established by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi....
.

Acting career


Among Topol's earliest film appearances was the lead role in the 1964 film Sallah Shabati
Sallah Shabati

Sallah Shabati is a 1964 in film Israel comedy film about the chaos of Aliyah and resettlement. This social satire placed the director Ephraim Kishon and producer Menahem Golan among the first Israeli filmmakers to achieve international success....
 by Ephraim Kishon
Ephraim Kishon

was an Israeli writer, satire, dramatist, screenwriter, and film director....
 — a play, later adapted for film, depicting the hardships of a Mizrachi Jewish immigrant family in Israel of the early 1950s. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Award, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ....
 and earned the actor the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor
Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actor

The Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actor originated in 1948. Between 1954 and 1965, multiple winners were announced. The category was discontinued following the 1983 ceremonies....
. In 1966 Topol made his first English-language
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 screen appearance as Abou Ibn Kaqden in the big-budget Mickey Marcus
Mickey Marcus

David Daniel Marcus , commonly known as Mickey Marcus, was a United States Army colonel who assisted Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and who became Israel's first general ....
 biopic Cast a Giant Shadow
Cast a Giant Shadow

Cast a Giant Shadow is a American war film, produced, written and directed by Melville Shavelson based on Ted Berkman's biography of Colonel Mickey Marcus....
.

He came to greatest prominence in the role of Tevye
Tevye

Tevye the dairyman is the protagonist of several of Sholem Aleichem's stories, originally written in Yiddish and first published in 1894 in literature....
 the milkman in the long-running musical show Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof is a musical theatre with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905....
, at Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, located in the Haymarket, in the City of Westminster. The present building was designed by Charles J....
. After scoring a major success on the West End
West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's "Theatreland". Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English language world....
 stage, he later starred in the 1971 film version
Fiddler on the Roof (film)

Fiddler on the Roof is the 1971 Cinema of the United States film adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof. It was directed by Norman Jewison. The film won three Academy Awards, including one for arranger-conductor John Williams....
.

In 1972, Topol won a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award

The Golden Globe Awards are presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to recognize outstanding achievements in the entertainment industry, both domestic and foreign, and to focus wide public attention upon the best in film and television program....
 and was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar
Academy Award for Best Actor

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry....
 for his performance in the film. He was on active service with the Israeli army at the time, but was granted permission to attend the awards ceremonies.

Some of his other notable appearances were in Galileo
Galileo (film)

Galileo is a 1975 in film film version of the Bertolt Brecht play The Life of Galileo. The film was produced and released as part of the American Film Theatre, which adapted theatrical works for a subscription-driven cinema series....
 (1975
1975 in film

The year 1975 in film involved some significant events....
), Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon (film)

Flash Gordon is a 1980 in film science fiction film, based on the eponymous comic strip character Flash Gordon . The film was Film director by Mike Hodges and Film producer by Dino De Laurentiis....
 (1980
1980 in film

The year 1980 in film involved some significant events....
), and the James Bond
James Bond

James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections....
 movie For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only (film)

For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond James Bond , and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional character Secret Intelligence Service agent James Bond ....
 (1981
1981 in film

Events*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate , a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica Corporation to sell it....
).

In 1983, he reprised the role of Tevye in a London revival of Fiddler on the Roof. In the late 1980s he played the role in a touring United States production. He was by now the approximate age of the character, and in fact the actress playing his wife Golde in the production, Rosalind Harris
Rosalind Harris

Rosalind Harris is an United States actress who played Tzeitel in the film adaptation of the Broadway theatre musical theatre Fiddler on the Roof in 1971 and also played Golde, Tzeitel's mother, in a touring stage revival of the same musical nearly twenty years later....
, had played his oldest daughter Tzeitel in the film.

In 1990 he again played the part in a Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
 revival of Fiddler, and was nominated for 1991 a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is awarded to the actor who was voted as the best actor in a Musical theatre, whether a new production or a revival....
, losing to Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce

Jonathan Pryce is a Wales award-winning theatre and film actor/singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and marrying Irish actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s....
. He played the part again in a 1994 London revival, which became a touring production. He has since played the part in various productions including stages in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
.

His most recent film roles were in Left Luggage
Left Luggage (film)

Left Luggage is a 1998 film directed by Jeroen Krabb?....
 (1998) in the role of Mr. Apfelschnitt, and Time Elevator (1998) as Shalem.

In November 2005, Topol had a two month season once again playing Tevye
Tevye

Tevye the dairyman is the protagonist of several of Sholem Aleichem's stories, originally written in Yiddish and first published in 1894 in literature....
 in Fiddler On the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof is a musical theatre with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905....
 at Capitol Theatre in Sydney
Sydney

Sydney is the List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million . It is the List of Australian capital cities of New South Wales, and was the site of the first British Empire colony in Australia....
, Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and in April 2007, played the role in Wellington
Wellington

Wellington is the Capital of New Zealand, situated at the southwestern tip of the North Island between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. The Wellington Urban Area is the major population centre of the southern North Island and ranks as New Zealand's third most populous Urban areas of New Zealand with residents....
, New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
.

In September 2008 Topol played the part of Honore in Gigi
Gigi

Gigi is a 1944 in literature novella by France writer Colette. The plot focuses on a young Parisian girl being groomed for a career as a courtesan and her relationship with the wealthy cultured man who discovers he is in love with and eventually marries her....
 at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park
Regent's Park

Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London of London. It is in the northern part of central London partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden....
, London

In February 2009 Topol began a farewell tour of Fiddler on the Roof as Tevye, opening in Providence, Rhode Island.

His autobiography, Chaim Topol on Topol, was published in London and Israel.

Topol is also an illustrator, responsible for drawings in several books, including A Treasury of Jewish Humour.

Filmography

  • I Like Mike
    I Like Mike (film)

    I Like Mike is a 1961 in film cinema of Israel drama film directed by Peter Frye. It was entered into the 1961 Cannes Film Festival. ...
     (1961)
  • El Dorado (1963), Benny Sherman
  • Sallah Shabbati (1964), Sallah Shabbati
  • Cast a Giant Shadow
    Cast a Giant Shadow

    Cast a Giant Shadow is a American war film, produced, written and directed by Melville Shavelson based on Ted Berkman's biography of Colonel Mickey Marcus....
     (1966), Abou Ibn Kader
  • Ervinka
    Ervinka

    Ervinka is a 1967 Israeli film written and directed by Ephraim Kishon. The film, starring Chaim Topol is a comical tale of a con man who falls in love with a police officer....
     (1967), Ervinka
  • A Talent for Loving (1969)
  • Before Winter Comes (1969), Janovic
  • The Going Up of David Lev (1971) (TV), Chaim
  • Ha-Tarnegol (1971)
  • Fiddler on the Roof
    Fiddler on the Roof (film)

    Fiddler on the Roof is the 1971 Cinema of the United States film adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof. It was directed by Norman Jewison. The film won three Academy Awards, including one for arranger-conductor John Williams....
     (1971), Tevye
  • The Public Eye (aka Follow Me!) (1972), Julian Cristoforou
  • Galileo
    Galileo (film)

    Galileo is a 1975 in film film version of the Bertolt Brecht play The Life of Galileo. The film was produced and released as part of the American Film Theatre, which adapted theatrical works for a subscription-driven cinema series....
     (1975), Galileo Galilei
  • The House on Garibaldi Street (1979) (TV), Michael
  • Flash Gordon
    Flash Gordon (film)

    Flash Gordon is a 1980 in film science fiction film, based on the eponymous comic strip character Flash Gordon . The film was Film director by Mike Hodges and Film producer by Dino De Laurentiis....
     (1980), Doctor Hans Zarkov
  • For Your Eyes Only
    For Your Eyes Only (film)

    For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond James Bond , and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional character Secret Intelligence Service agent James Bond ....
     (1981), Milos Columbo
  • The Winds of War
    The Winds of War

    The Winds of War was best-selling novellist Herman Wouk's second book about World War II, the first being The Caine Mutiny . Published in 1971, it was followed up seven years later by War and Remembrance....
     (1983) (TV Mini-Series), Berel Jastrow.
  • Roman Behemshechim (1985), Effi Avidar
  • Queenie
    Queenie

    Queenie was a caricature of the historical figure British monarchy Elizabeth I of England, played by Miranda Richardson in the second series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan era Kingdom of England....
     (1987) (TV), Dimitri Goldner
  • Tales of the Unexpected "Mr Knowall" (1988) (TV), Professor Max Kelada
  • War and Remembrance
    War and Remembrance

    War and Remembrance is a novel by Herman Wouk, published in 1978, which is the sequel to The Winds of War. It continues the story of the extended Henry family and the Jastrow family starting on 15 December 1941 and ending on 6 August 1945....
     (1988) (TV), Berel Jastrow
  • SeaQuest DSV
    SeaQuest DSV

    seaQuest DSV is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996....
     "Treasure of the Mind"     (1993) (TV), Dr. Rafik Hassan
  • Time Elevator (1998), Shalem
  • Left Luggage
    Left Luggage (film)

    Left Luggage is a 1998 film directed by Jeroen Krabb?....
     (1998), Mr. Apfelschnitt
  • Shalom Shabbat (1998), Eliyahu the Fisherman


External links