But Bikel, who died on July 21 of natural causes, was all these and more.
Advertisement
The actor famously played Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof more times on stage than even Chaim Topol, who starred in the film, and also appeared in dozens of TV shows including The Twilight Zone, Charlie’s Angels, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, as Worf’s father.
In 1944, Bikel co-founded the Israeli Chamber Theatre, and in 1946, he entered London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and graduated with honors two years later.
In a 2007 interview with Hadassah Magazine, Bikel linked his activism to his experience living through the Anschluss, the Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938. He earned an Oscar nomination in 1960 for his supporting role in The Defiant Ones; the same year, he was nominated for a Tony for originating the role of Captain von Trapp in The Sound Of Music on Broadway.
In 1948, he was recommended to Laurence Olivier by Michael Redgrave to study for the parts of Stanley Kowalski and Mitch in the London production of A Streetcar Named Desire where he eventually took over the lead role opposite Vivien Leigh. And in his role as President of Actors’ Equity Association, he made significant contributions to the world of Broadway. Bikel recorded several folk song albums in 1955 after landing in the US, in collaboration with the records company Electra. In addition to acting and performing on stage, Bikel debuted as a folk musican at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1956 and IMDb describes him as “one of the most versatile and respected actors and performers of his generation”.
A prolific recording artist, Bikel also helped found the Newport Folk Festival in 1959, an event that has drawn hundreds of thousands of fans to Rhode Island over the decades and launched the careers of many notable musicians.
He wasn’t just outspoken politically; he was a delegate to the 1968 Democratic Convention. Bikel once reflected: “Retiring – within that word is tiring, and I’m not exhausted”.
Bikel moved to the United States in 1954 to appear on Broadway in “Tonight in Samarkand“, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1961. No one loved theater more, his union better or cherished actors like Theo did.
Advertisement
Bikel is survived by his fourth wife, Aimee Ginsburg, sons Robert and Daniel, stepsons Zeev and Noam Ginsburg, and three grandchildren.
