Theodore Bikel

Actor

About

Also Known As

Theodore Meir Bikel

Birth Place

Austria

Born

May 02, 1924

Died

July 21, 2015

Cause of Death

Natural Causes

Biography

Filmography

The Little Traitor (2009)

Isn't This a Time! A Tribute Concert for Harold Levanthal (2004)

Himself

Trickle (1998)

Babylon 5: In the Beginning (1998)

Lennon

Boing (1998)

Shadow Conspiracy (1997)

Photos & Videos

View All

I Want to Live! - (Original Trailer)

Defiant Ones, The (1958) -- (Movie Clip) Open, Long Gone

Family & Companions

Ofra Ichilov

Wife

Divorced.

Rita Weinberg

Wife

Married in 1967.

Bibliography

"Folksongs and Footnotes"

Theodore Bikel, Meridian Books (1961)

Notes

Among his many honors, Bikel was named Man of the Year (1967) by B'nai Brith

Biography

Internationally renowned actor and folksinger Theodore Bikel made his first stage appearance as the Village Clerk in a Tel Aviv production of "Tevye, the Milkman" and would in fact play the life-loving Tevye so many times in productions of "Fiddler on the Roof" that it became his signature role (although he claimed to have liked "Zorba!" better). After graduating from London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he won acclaim for his work in West End productions of "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1949, directed by Laurence Olivier) and "The Love of Four Colonels" (1951, directed by Peter Ustinov) before making his Broadway debut in "Tonight in Samarkand" (1955). Though he also played Robert de Baudricourt in "The Lark" that year on Broadway, a part he would reprise for the 1967 NBC "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation of "St. Joan" his best-known theatrical credit (aside from Tevye) is probably his creation of Captain Georg von Trapp for the Broadway production of "The Sound of Music" (1959), starring Mary Martin. Bikel's feature debut came as the First officer of the Luisa in the John Huston classic "The African Queen" (1951). He would find himself on (or under) the water again as second-in-command of the German U-boat in "The Enemy Below" (1957) and the (Soviet) Captain in Cold War farce "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming" (1966). In fact, his facility for languages (fluent in Yiddish, Hebrew, French, German and English) helped land a plethora of international roles throughout his career. Bikel earned an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the moderate sheriff in "The Defiant Ones" (1958), and he played Russian linguist Zoltan Karpathy in the Academy Award-winning "My Fair Lady" (1964). A guest star on countless TV series, he appeared on four episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" (CBS 1984-1996) in the '80s and '90s, not to mention having recurring roles on "Dynasty" (ABC 1981-89) and "Falcon Crest" (CBS 1981-1990). He also portrayed Henry Kissinger in the ABC movie "The Final Days" (1989), based on the book by Bob Woodward. As Bikel entered his mid-'70s, his acting career slowed down to occasional small roles in films ranging from the thrillers "Shattered" (1991) and "Benefit of the Doubt" (1993) to the post-Soviet comedy "My Family Treasure" (1993) and the inspirational drama "Second Chances" (1998). He appeared as a rabbi in the science fiction hit "Babylon 5" (syndicated 1994-98) and as a farmer in the procedural drama "JAG" (CBS 1995-2005). His final screen roles came in Menahem Golan's modern-day adaptation of "Crime and Punishment" (2002) and in the Israeli drama "The Little Traitor" (2007), starring Alfred Molina. Theodore Bikel died of undisclosed natural causes on July 21, 2015 in Los Angeles. He was 91 years old.

Filmography

Life Events

1943

Theatrical debut as the Village Clerk of "Tevye the Milkman" in Tel Aviv

1944

Co-founded Israel Chamber Theatre (date approximate)

1948

London stage debut in "You Can't Take It with You"

1949

Appeared in West End production of "A Streetcar Named Desire", directed by Laurence Olivier; eventually assumed role of Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell

1951

Directed by Peter Ustinov in West End production of "The Love of Four Colonels"

1951

Feature acting debut in "The African Queen", playing first officer of the 'Luisa'

1955

Made TV debut on ABC's dramatic anthonlogy series, "Star Tonight"

1955

Broadway debut as Inspector Massoubre in "Tonight in Samarkand"; later that year portrayed Robert de Baudricourt in Broadway production of "The Lark", starring Julie Harris

1957

Played the second-in-command on the German U-boat in "The Enemy Below", directed by Dick Powell

1958

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role as moderate Sheriff Max Muller who refuses to get caught up in or intimidated by the mob psychology in Stanley Kramer's "The Defiant Ones"

1959

Created the role of Captain Georg von Trapp in Broadway production of "The Sound of Music" opposite Mary Martin; received Tony nomination

1964

Played noted linguist Zoltan Karpathy in George Cukor's film version of "My Fair Lady"

1966

Portrayed the Captain in "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming"

1967

Reprised role of de Baudricourt for NBC "Hallmark Hall of Fame" production of "St. Joan"; also played Mr Van Daan in ABC's version of "The Diary of Anne Frank"