Topol was born on September 9, 1935 in Tel Aviv, Palestine [now Israel] as Chaim Topol. He is an actor, known for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), For Your Eyes Only (1981) and Flash Gordon (1980).
Anyone who ever plays Tevye should be thankful to Zero Mostel. He gave us all room and I know I wouldn't have done the movie without the advantage of a year's rehearsal on stage.
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Fact
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Performing in Wellington, New Zealand as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. [April 2007]
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Topol recently finished a two month season once again playing Tevye in Fiddler On the Roof at Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia. [November 2005]
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In a reprise of his role as Tevye, currently touring in Fiddler on the Roof at age 74. [February 2009]
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By his own estimation, he has toured, as Tevye, in every state in the USA, and all the provinces of Canada, at least twice over the last four decades, always to appreciative audiences.
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Has appeared in over 2500 stage performances as Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof".
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Shares his name (Topol) with a tooth-whitening anti-cavity toothpaste that's been on the market for several years, and is still being sold today.
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First Israeli actor ever to be nominated for an Academy Award.
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Before the 1971 film version, Topol had played Tevye in over 400 performances in London. Since the film's release, he has played the milkman over 2,000 times in places from United States and Canada, to Europe, Japan, and Australia.
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Was nominated for Broadway's 1991 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for a revival of "Fiddler on the Roof," a role he had previously played twenty years earlier in an Oscar-nominated performance in the film version of the same title, Fiddler on the Roof (1971).
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His daughter, Anat, played the role of "Chava" in a 1995 production of "Fiddler on the Roof" alongside her father.
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In the late 1980s he toured the US in a stage revival of "Fiddler on the Roof." Unlike when he made the movie in 1971, he was Tevye's age by this time. The part of wife Golde was played by Rosalind Harris, who had played daughter Tzeitel in the movie.
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His first name is Hebrew for "life", while his last name is Russian for "poplar".
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Was on active duty with the Israeli army when he was nominated for an Oscar for "Fiddler on the Roof" in early 1972. He was granted leave so he could attend the ceremony in Los Angeles that year.
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One of his best friends - Rehavam ("Ghandi") Ze'evi, a minister in the Israeli government, was murdered in 2001 by a Palestinian Terrorist
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