Chaim Topol

Topol in 1971

Topol came to greatest prominence in his portrayal of Tevye the Dairyman on stage and screen. He first played the lead role in the Israeli production of the musical Fiddler on the Roof in 1966,[20] replacing Shmuel Rodensky for 10 weeks when Rodensky fell ill.[1] Harold Prince, producer of the original Fiddler on the Roof that opened on Broadway in 1964, had seen Topol in Sallah Shabati and called him to audition for the role of the fifty-something Tevye in a new production scheduled to open at Her Majesty's Theatre in London on February 16, 1967.[27] Not yet fluent in English, Topol memorized the score from listening to the original Broadway cast album and practiced the lyrics with a British native.[27]

When Topol arrived at the audition, Prince was surprised that this 30-year-old man had played Shabati, a character in his sixties.[1] Topol explained, "A good actor can play an old man, a sad face, a happy man. Makeup is not an obstacle".[1] Topol also surprised the producers with his familiarity with the staging, since he had already acted in the Israeli production, and was hired.[1][28] He spent six months in London learning his part phonetically with vocal coach Cicely Berry.[28] Jerome Robbins, director and choreographer of the 1964 Broadway show who came over to direct the London production, "re-directed" the character of Tevye for Topol and helped the actor deliver a less caricatured performance.[29][30] Topol's performance received positive reviews.[30]

A few months after the opening, Topol was called up for reserve duty in the Six-Day War and returned to Israel. He was assigned to an army entertainment troupe on the Golan Heights.[30] Afterward he returned to the London production, appearing in a total of 430 performances.[31]

It was during the London run that he began being known by his last name only, as the English producers were unable to pronounce the voiceless uvular fricative consonant Ḥet at the beginning of his first name, Chaim, instead calling him "Shame".[1]

In casting the 1971 film version of Fiddler on the Roof, director Norman Jewison and his production team sought an actor other than Zero Mostel for the lead role. This decision was a controversial one, as Mostel had made the role famous in the long-running Broadway musical and wanted to star in the film.[33] But Jewison and his team felt Mostel would eclipse the character with his larger-than-life personality.[34][35][36] Jewison flew to London in February 1968 to see Topol perform as Tevye during his last week with the London production, and chose him over Danny Kaye, Herschel Bernardi, Rod Steiger, Danny Thomas, Walter Matthau, Richard Burton, and Frank Sinatra, who had also expressed interest in the part.[1][35][37]

Then 36 years old, Topol was made to look 20 years older and 30 pounds (14 kg) heavier with makeup and costuming.[4] As in his role as Shabati, Topol used the technique of "locking his muscles" to convincingly play an older character.[1][38] He later explained:

As a young man, I had to make sure that I didn't break the illusion for the audience. You have to tame yourself. I'm now someone who is supposed to be 50, 60 years old. I cannot jump. I cannot suddenly be young. You produce a certain sound [in your voice] that is not young.[1]

Topol in 2003

For his performance, Topol won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy,[39] the Sant Jordi Award for Best Performance in a Foreign Film,[40] and the 1972 David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor, sharing the latter with Elizabeth Taylor.[20] He was also nominated for the 1971 Academy Award for Best Actor, losing to Gene Hackman in The French Connection.[11][23]

In 1983 Topol reprised the role of Tevye in a revival of Fiddler on the Roof on the West End in London.[31] In 1989, he played the role in a 30-city U.S. touring production.[41] As he was by then the approximate age of the character, he commented, "I didn't have to spend the energy playing the age".[41] In 1990–1991, he again starred as Tevye in a Broadway revival of Fiddler at the Gershwin Theatre.[41][42] In that production Rosalind Harris, who had played eldest daughter Tzeitel in the film, played Tevye's wife Golde opposite Topol. In 1991, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical,[43] losing to Jonathan Pryce in Miss Saigon. Topol again played Tevye in a 1994 London revival,[31] which became a touring production. In that production, the role of one of his daughters was played by his daughter, Adi Topol Margalith.[1][44]

Topol reprised the role of Tevye for a 1997–1998 touring production in Israel, as well as a 1998 show at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne.[45] In September 2005 he returned to Australia for a Fiddler on the Roof revival at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney,[46] followed by an April 2006 production at the Lyric Theatre in Brisbane,[47] and a June 2006 production at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne.[45] In May 2007, he starred in a production at the Auckland Civic Theatre.[48]

In 2009, Topol began a farewell tour of Fiddler on the Roof as Tevye, opening in Wilmington, Delaware.[49] He was forced to withdraw from the tour in Boston owing to a shoulder injury, and was replaced by Theodore Bikel and Harvey Fierstein, both of whom had portrayed Tevye on Broadway.[1] Topol estimated that he performed the role more than 3,500 times.[1][23][11]

In 2014, he appeared in Raising the Roof, a 50th-anniversary tribute to Fiddler at New York City's Town Hall produced by National Yiddish Theatre.[50] The evening featured Chita Rivera, Joshua Bell, Sheldon Harnick, Andrea Martin, Jerry Zaks, and more, and was co-directed by Gary John La Rosa and Erik Liberman.[50]

Topol's sketch of himself as Sallah Shabati

In 1976, Topol played the lead role of the baker, Amiable, in the new musical The Baker's Wife, but was fired after eight months by producer David Merrick. In her autobiography, Patti LuPone, his co-star in the production, claimed that Topol had behaved unprofessionally on stage and had a strained relationship with her off-stage. [51][52] The show's composer, Stephen Schwartz, claimed that Topol's behavior greatly disturbed the cast and directors and resulted in the production not reaching Broadway as planned.[53] In 1988, Topol starred in the title role in Ziegfeld at the London Palladium.[21] He returned to the London stage in 2008 in the role of Honoré, played by Maurice Chevalier in the 1958 film Gigi.[1]

Topol appeared in more than 30 films in Israel and abroad.[11] Among his notable English-language appearances are the title role in Galileo (1975), Dr. Hans Zarkov in Flash Gordon (1980),[54] and Milos Columbo in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only (1981).[54][55] He was said to be Israel's "only internationally-recognized entertainer" from the 1960s through to the 1980s.[1]

In Israel, Topol acted in and produced dozens of films and television series.[20] As a voice artist, he dubbed the voice of Bagheera in the Hebrew-language versions of The Jungle Book and the 2003 sequel as well as Rubeus Hagrid in the first two films of the Harry Potter film series.[11][23] He was also a playwright and screenwriter.[24]

Topol was featured on two BBC One programs, the six-part series Topol's Israel (1985) and earlier It's Topol (1968).[19][56] A Hebrew-language documentary of his life, Chaim Topol – Life as a Film, aired on Israel's Channel 1 in 2011, featuring interviews with his longtime actor friends in Israel and abroad.[6]

A baritone,[6] Topol recorded several singles and albums, including film soundtracks, children's songs, and Israeli war songs. His albums include Topol With Roger Webb And His Orchestra - Topol '68 (1967), Topol Sings Israeli Freedom Songs (1967), War Songs By Topol (1968), and Topol's Israel (1984). He appeared on the soundtrack album for the film production of Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and the London cast album (1967).[57][58]

• Bial, Henry (2005). Acting Jewish: Negotiating Ethnicity on the American Stage & Screen. University of Michigan Press. p. 78. ISBN 047206908X.
• Bonfante, Jordan (December 3, 1971). "Topol: Fiddler on the Screen". LIFE. Vol. 71, no. 23.
• De Giere, Carol (2008). "The Baker's Wife: Mixed Ingredients". Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. ISBN 978-1557837455.
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• Franks, Don (2004). Entertainment Awards: A Music, Cinema, Theatre and Broadcasting Guide, 1928 through 2003 (3rd ed.). McFarland. ISBN 0786417986.
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• Holt, Patricia (December 7, 2010). "Patti LuPone: A ShowBiz Memoir to Remember". Holtuncensored.com.
• Isenberg, Barbara (2014). Tradition!: The Highly Improbable, Ultimately Triumphant Broadway-to-Hollywood Story of Fiddler on the Roof, the World's Most Beloved Musical. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1466862524.
• Lawrence, Greg (2001). Dance with Demons: The Life of Jerome Robbins. Penguin. ISBN 1101204060.
• Kronish, Amy; Safirman, Costel (2003). Israeli Film: A Reference Guide. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0313321442.
• LuPone, Patti (2010). Patti LuPone: A Memoir. Crown/Archetype. ISBN 978-0307460752.
• Maltin, Leonard, ed. (1994). Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia. Dutton. ISBN 9780525936350.
• Monaco, James, ed. (1991). The Encyclopedia of Film. Perigee Books. p. 537. ISBN 0399516042.
• Smith, Jim; Lavington, Stephen (2002). Bond Films. Virgin. ISBN 0753507099.
• Vogel, Frederick G. (2003). Hollywood Musicals Nominated for Best Picture. McFarland. ISBN 0786443421.