Chaim Topol
Encyclopedia
Chaim Topol often billed simply as Topol, is an Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i theatrical and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 performer, actor, writer and producer. He has been nominated for an Oscar and Tony Award, and has won two Golden Globes.

Early life

Topol was born in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

 in 1935 in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, to Rel (née Goldman) and Jacob Topol. 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 Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

. 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.Founded in 1961, the Haifa Theater employs Jewish and Arab actors, and has an international reputation for performing provocative works...

.

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 Israeli comedy film about the chaos of Israeli immigration 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 author, dramatist, screenwriter, and film director. He is one of the most widely-read contemporary satirists in the world.- Early life and World War II :...

 — a play, later adapted for film, depicting the hardships of a Mizrachi Jewish immigrant family in Israel of the early 1960s. 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 Awards of Merit, 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.-Winners:*1948: Richard Widmark*1950: Richard Todd, Gene Nelson...

. In 1966, Topol made his first English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 screen appearance as Abou Ibn Kaqden in the big-budget Mickey Marcus
Mickey Marcus
David Daniel "Mickey" Marcus was a United States Army colonel who assisted Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and who became Israel's first general . He was killed by friendly fire, when he was mistaken for an enemy infiltrator while returning to Israeli positions at night.Marcus is the best...

 biopic Cast a Giant Shadow
Cast a Giant Shadow
Cast a Giant Shadow is a 1966 big budget, action movie based on the life of Colonel Mickey Marcus starring Kirk Douglas and Senta Berger. Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, and Angie Dickinson also appear in supporting roles...

.

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. The character became best known from the fictional memoir Tevye and his Daughters , about a pious Jewish milkman in Tsarist Russia, and the troubles he has with...

 the milkman in the long-running musical show Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...

, at Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...

. 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', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 stage, he later starred in the 1971 film version
Fiddler on the Roof (film)
Fiddler on the Roof is the 1971 film adaptation of the 1964 Broadway musical of the same name, with music composed by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905, about Tevye and his Daughters. It was directed by Norman Jewison. The film won three...

.

In 1972, Topol won a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...

 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 Awards of Merit 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.

In 1976, Topol originated the leading role of the baker, Aimable, in the new musical The Baker's Wife
The Baker's Wife
The Baker's Wife is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and the book by Joseph Stein, based on the French film La Femme du Boulanger by Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono...

, but was fired after eight months by producer David Merrick
David Merrick
David Merrick was a prolific Tony Award-winning American theatrical producer.-Life and career:Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick graduated from Washington University, then studied law at the Jesuit-run Saint Louis University School of Law...

. In her autobiography, Patti LuPone
Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and as Madame Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les...

: A Memoir
, his co-star in the production relayed that Topol behaved unprofessionally in front of paying audiences, sometimes speaking gibberish instead of his lines, and other times responding to the director's instructions by grossly overacting on purpose. Her account was echoed by the show's composer, Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz (composer)
Stephen Lawrence Schwartz is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell , Pippin and Wicked...

, in the book Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, From Godspell to Wicked, in which he claimed that Topol's unprofessional behavior greatly disturbed the cast and directors and resulted in the production not reaching Broadway as planned.

Some of Topol's other notable appearances were in Galileo
Galileo (film)
Galileo is a 1975 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.-Plot:...

(1975
1975 in film
The year 1975 in film involved some significant events, with Steven Spielberg's thriller Jaws topping the box office.-Events:*March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London....

), Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon (film)
Flash Gordon is a 1980 British/American science fiction film, based on the comic strip of the same name created by Alex Raymond. The film was directed by Mike Hodges and produced and presented by Dino De Laurentiis. It stars Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Topol, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, Brian...

(1980
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....

), and as Milos Columbo in James Bond
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...

 movie For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only (film)
For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond series and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It marked the directorial debut of John Glen, who had worked as editor and second unit director in three other Bond films. The screenplay by Richard Maibaum...

(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 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 that production Rosalind Harris
Rosalind Harris
Rosalind Harris is an American actress who played Tzeitel in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof in 1971.She played "Golde", Tzeitel's mother, in a touring stage revival of the same musical nearly twenty years later with Topol, the Israeli actor as "Tevye".She appeared...

 had played his eldest 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 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in 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 play, whether a new production or a revival...

, losing to Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English 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, Australia and Japan. His most recent film roles were in Left Luggage
Left Luggage (film)
Left Luggage is a 1998 Dutch film directed by Jeroen Krabbé.-Plot:While escaping from Nazis during WWII, a Jewish man buries two suitcases full of things dear to his heart in the ground. The war deprived him of his family, and afterwards he endlessly turns over the soil of Antwerp to find the...

(1998) in the role of Mr. Apfelschnitt, and Time Elevator (1998) as Shalem.

In 2005, he was voted the 90th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet
Ynet
Ynet is the most popular Israeli news and general content website. It is owned by the same conglomerate that operates Yediot Ahronot, the country's secondleading daily newspaper...

to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.

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. The character became best known from the fictional memoir Tevye and his Daughters , about a pious Jewish milkman in Tsarist Russia, and the troubles he has with...

 in Fiddler On the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...

at Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia and in April 2007, played the role in Wellington, New Zealand. In September 2008, Topol played the part of Honore in Gigi
Gigi
Gigi is a 1944 novella by French 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 named Gaston who falls in love with her 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. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...

, London.

On January 20, 2009, Topol began a farewell tour of Fiddler on the Roof as Tevye, opening in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

. He was forced to withdraw from the tour owing to a shoulder injury, and made his last appearance as Tevye in Boston, Massachusetts on November 15, 2009. (Theodore Bikel
Theodore Bikel
Theodore Meir Bikel is a character actor, folk singer and musician. He made his film debut in The African Queen and was nominated for an Academy award for his supporting role as Sheriff Max Muller in The Defiant Ones ....

 and Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...

, both of whom have portrayed Tevye on Broadway, replaced him in scheduled appearances.)

Author

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 Israeli drama film directed by Canadian-born Peter Frye. It was entered into the 1961 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Batya Lancet* Gideon Singer* Zeev Berlinsky* Ilana Rovina* Meira Shor* Seymour Gitin* Topol* Geula Nuni...

    (1961)
  • El Dorado
    El Dorado (1963 film)
    El Dorado is a 1963 film directed by Menahem Golan. The script was co-written by him, Leo Filler, and Amatsia Hiuni, based on the play by Yigal Mosenzon.-Plot:...

    (1963), Benny Sherman
  • Sallah Shabbati (1964), Sallah Shabbati
  • Cast a Giant Shadow
    Cast a Giant Shadow
    Cast a Giant Shadow is a 1966 big budget, action movie based on the life of Colonel Mickey Marcus starring Kirk Douglas and Senta Berger. Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, and Angie Dickinson also appear in supporting roles...

    (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.-Plot:...

    (1967), Ervinka
  • The Jungle Book
    The Jungle Book (1967 film)
    The Jungle Book is a 1967 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Released on October 18, 1967, it is the 19th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was inspired by the stories about the feral child Mowgli from the book of the same name by...

    (1967), Bagheera
    Bagheera
    Bagheera the black-toned Indian Leopard is an animal fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book...

     (1988 Hebrew Dub)
  • A Talent for Loving
    A Talent for Loving
    A Talent for Loving is a British-American comedy Western film directed by Richard Quine, and based on the 1961 parodic Western novel A Talent for Loving, or The Great Cowboy Race by Richard Condon, who also wrote the screenplay. The film stars Richard Widmark and Cesar Romero.-Cast:*Richard...

    (1969)
  • Before Winter Comes
    Before Winter Comes
    Before Winter Comes is a 1969 British film directed by J. Lee Thompson from a screenplay by Andrew Sinclair.-Plot:Before Winter Comes takes place in the immediate aftermath of World War II. British Major Giles Burnside is assigned to an Austrian refugee camp, his mission is to send the groups of...

    (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 film adaptation of the 1964 Broadway musical of the same name, with music composed by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905, about Tevye and his Daughters. It was directed by Norman Jewison. The film won three...

    (1971), Tevye the milkman
  • Follow Me!
    Follow Me! (1972 film)
    Follow Me! is a 1972 drama film directed by Sir Carol Reed, starring Mia Farrow and Topol. Adapted by Peter Shaffer from his own play , it is Reed's last completed film....

    (1972), Julian Cristoforou
  • Galileo
    Galileo (film)
    Galileo is a 1975 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.-Plot:...

    (1975), Galileo Galilei
  • The House on Garibaldi Street (1979) (TV), Michael
  • Flash Gordon
    Flash Gordon (film)
    Flash Gordon is a 1980 British/American science fiction film, based on the comic strip of the same name created by Alex Raymond. The film was directed by Mike Hodges and produced and presented by Dino De Laurentiis. It stars Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Topol, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, Brian...

    (1980), Dr. Hans Zarkov
    Hans Zarkov
    Dr. Hans Zarkov is a fictional character appearing in the Flash Gordon comic strip. Zarkov is a brilliant scientist who creates a rocket and forces Flash and Dale Arden to come with him to the planet Mongo, and fight against Ming the Merciless...

  • For Your Eyes Only
    For Your Eyes Only (film)
    For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond series and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It marked the directorial debut of John Glen, who had worked as editor and second unit director in three other Bond films. The screenplay by Richard Maibaum...

    (1981), Milos Columbo
  • The Winds of War
    The Winds of War
    The Winds of War is 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; originally conceived as one volume, Wouk decided to break it in two when he realized it took nearly 1000 pages just to...

    (1983) (TV Mini-Series), Berel Jastrow.
  • Roman Behemshechim (1985), Effi Avidar
  • Queenie
    Queenie
    "Queenie" is a caricature of the historical figure Queen Elizabeth I of England, played by Miranda Richardson in Blackadder II, the second series of the BBC historical sitcom Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan 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. This novel was adapted into a mini-series presented on...

    (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. In its final season, it was renamed seaQuest 2032. Set in "the near future", seaQuest mixes high drama with realistic scientific fiction...

     "Treasure of the Mind"
    (1993) (TV), Dr. Rafik Hassan
  • Time Elevator (1998), Shalem
  • Left Luggage
    Left Luggage (film)
    Left Luggage is a 1998 Dutch film directed by Jeroen Krabbé.-Plot:While escaping from Nazis during WWII, a Jewish man buries two suitcases full of things dear to his heart in the ground. The war deprived him of his family, and afterwards he endlessly turns over the soil of Antwerp to find the...

    (1998), Mr. Apfelschnitt
  • Shalom Shabbat (1998), Eliyahu the Fisherman
  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
    Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
    Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, released in the United States and India as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, is a 2001 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film is the first instalment in the Harry Potter film series,...

    (2001), Rubeus Hagrid
    Rubeus Hagrid
    Rubeus Hagrid is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. Hagrid is introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as a half-giant who is the gamekeeper and Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts, the primary setting for the first six novels...

     (Hebrew Dub)
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
    Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the second instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman...

    (2002), Rubeus Hagrid (Hebrew Dub)
  • The Jungle Book 2
    The Jungle Book 2
    The Jungle Book 2 is a 2003 American animated film produced by the DisneyToons studio in Sydney, Australia and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. The theatrical version of the film was released in France on February 5, 2003, and released in the United States on February...

    (2003), Bagheera (Hebrew Dub)


External links

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