The Israeli actor and singer died Wednesday at home in Israel surrounded by his family, local media reported. His son recently confirmed that he was diagnosed with dementia last year.
Chaim Topol is dead. President of Israel: He has found a particularly deep place in our hearts
In a statement announcing Topol’s death, Israeli President Isaac Herzog described Topol as “a talented actor who conquered many stages in Israel and abroad, filled cinema screens with his presence and found a particularly deep place in our hearts.”
Topol portrayed Tevye in the stage musical for over five decades, once estimating that he played the role more than 3,500 times. He also played a devout Jewish father in the 1971 film for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.
He first took to the stage singing “If I Were Rich…” in 1966, when he was only 30 years old (Tevye is over fifty). Topol used makeup and costumes to appear older and heavier than his age would indicate. In 2009, when he left the role in his seventies, he must have acted younger than his years.
– How many people are known for one role? How many people in my profession are known around the world? So I’m not complaining – The Guardian quotes his statement from 2015. “Sometimes I’m surprised when I come to China or Tokyo, when I come to France or when I come anywhere, and the immigration officer says, ‘Topol, Topol, are you Topol?’ So yeah, a lot of people have seen Fiddler on the Roof, and that’s not a bad thing.”
Source: Gazeta
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