israeli actor Chaim Topolknown for his role in “Fiddler on the Roof“He passed away at the age of 87, Israeli authorities reported on Thursday.
Born in Tel Aviv in 1935Topol did his military service in an Israeli army theater company, where he acted and sang.
After his military obligations, he moved to a kibbutz with his wife and worked as a mechanic. She continued, however, acting in a theater company he founded.
In 1964, he participated in the film “Sallah Shabati”a comedy regarding the obligations of Jewish migrants from Arab countries, which was very successful in Israel. With this role he won his first Golden Globe, for Best New Actor.
In 1966, he played a supporting role alongside Kirk Douglas in the film “Shadow of a Giant”.
In London, a year later, he gave life to the theater as Teyve’s character from “Fiddler on the Roof”, following having played him for years in Israel.
The 1971 film adaptation of this musical that narrates the difficulties of a milkman in a “shtetl” (Jewish town in eastern Europe) with the anti-Semitism of tsarist Russia as a backdrop, earned him his second Golden Globe.
His interpretation of the theme «If I Were a Rich Man» (If I were rich) will be recorded in the history of cinema.
He continued with his film and theater career, with a notable appearance in 1981 in the James Bond “For your eyes only”, where he gave life to a Greek trafficker ally of the British spy (Roger Moore).
In 2015, Topol, received from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the Israel Prize, the country’s most prestigious award, “for his special contribution to society and the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu on Thursday expressed “his great sadness” at the loss of one of the country’s “greatest artists.”
“Topol was a multifaceted artist, endowed with great charisma (who) represented Israel throughout the world,” the leader said in a statement.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the actor a “giant of Israeli culture.”
The interpreter, who presided over an association to help children with chronic diseases, suffered from Alzheimer’s.
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