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Stage and film star Theodore Bikel dies

July 22, 2015

Tony-nominated Broadway actor Theodore Bikel, best known for his role in the hit musical "Fiddler on the Roof," has died at the age of 91. Beyond his stage career, Bikel was highly noted for his political activism.

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Theodore Bikel
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/R. Miller

Theodore Bikel played many roles throughout his career. From a Scottish police officer to a Russian submarine skipper, Jewish refugee, Dutch sea captain and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Bikel brought life to every part. He also sang in 21 languages.

A native of Vienna, Austria, he spent much of his youth in British-controlled Palestine where he lived on a kibbutz. Bikel was fiercely devoted to supporting Jewish causes throughout his life, as well as the Democratic Party and various human rights groups. Bikel became a US citizen in 1961.

Bikel began acting in Tel Aviv's Habimah Theatre in 1943, and in 1946 he moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Within a few years, he won a role in the London production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" playing the role of Mitch opposite Vivien Leigh.

The original Captain von Trapp

He made his Broadway debut in 1955, and a few years later, in 1959, Bikel originated the stage role of Captain von Trapp in "The Sound of Music," earning him a Tony nomination.

But he became best known for starring as Tevye in the hit Broadway musical "Fiddler on the Roof." Bikel began his celebrated run as Tevye in 1967, and went on to perform the part of the struggling Jewish dairyman with such memorable songs as "Tradition" and "If I Were a Rich Man" in excess of 2,000 times - more than any other Broadway actor.

The role, which paralleled his own family's escape from Austria following the German annexation of their homeland in the 1930s, earned Bikel his second Tony nomination in 1960.

Oscar nomination in 1958

Bikel's screen career spanned more than 150 appearances, including his 1951 movie debut as a German naval officer in the classic "The African Queen" and an Oscar-nominated turn as a Southern sheriff opposite Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier in the acclaimed drama "The Defiant Ones" in 1958.

Bikel also appeared in numerous television shows over three decades - ranging form "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" to "Star Trek: The Next Generation," in which he played the adoptive father of Klingon Lieutenant Commander Worf. In one memorable guest role on the CBS sitcom "All in the Family," he played a German butcher infatuated with Edith Bunker.

As a recording artist, he produced several albums of Jewish folk songs. Bikel was 80 years old when he received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 2005.

Bikel died of natural causes at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. He is survived by his wife, Aimee Ginsburg; sons Rob and Danny Bikel; stepsons Zeev and Noam Ginsburg; and three grandchildren.

ss/cmk (Reuters, AP)