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 African Queen" (1951) and 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 "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 socko 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) in the 80s and 90s, not to mention having recurring roles on "Dynasty" (ABC) and "Falcon Crest" (CBS). He also portrayed Henry Kissinger in the ABC movie "The Final Days" (1989), based on the book by Bob Woodward.
- Also Credited As:
Theodore Meir Bikel
- Born:
May 2, 1924 in Vienna, Austria
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Job Titles:
Actor, Guitarist, Singer, Editor, Photographer, Writer
Family
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Father: Josef Bikel.
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Mother: Miriam Bikel.
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Son: Daniel Martin Bikel.
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Son: Robert Simon Bikel.
Education
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Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, England
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University of London, London, England
Milestones
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1943 Theatrical debut as the Village Clerk of Tevye the Milkman in Tel Aviv
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1944 Co-founded Israel Chamber Theatre (date approximate)
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1948 London stage debut in You Can t Take It with You
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1949 Appeared in West End production of A Streetcar Named Desire , directed by Laurence Olivier; eventually assumed role of Harold Mitch Mitchell
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1951 Directed by Peter Ustinov in West End production of The Love of Four Colonels
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1951 Feature acting debut in The African Queen , playing first officer of the Luisa
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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
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1955 Made TV debut on ABC s dramatic anthonlogy series, Star Tonight
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1957 Played the second-in-command on the German U-boat in The Enemy Below , directed by Dick Powell
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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
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1959 Created the role of Captain Georg von Trapp in Broadway production of The Sound of Music opposite Mary Martin; received Tony nomination
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1964 Played noted linguist Zoltan Karpathy in George Cukor s film version of My Fair Lady
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1966 Portrayed the Captain in The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
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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
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1968 Delegate to the Democratic convention
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1972 Headlined the national tour of the stage musical The Rothschilds
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1976 Acted in ABC movie Victory at Entebbe
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1976 Played what is reportedly his favorite role in Zorba! on tour of US cities
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1977 Appointed by President Carter to serve a five-year term on the National Council for the Arts
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1985 Had recurring role as Warnick on ABC s Dynasty
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1987 Appeared as recurring character Martin Dimitrov on CBS Falcon Crest
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1989 Portrayed Henry Kissinger in the ABC movie The Final Days , based on the book by Bob Woodward
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1997 Acted the part of Profesor Pochenko in The Shadow Conspiracy
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1998 Appeared in the shorts Trickle and Boing
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1999 Returned to the NYC stage in The Gathering
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2000 Toured as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof
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Emigrated to then-Palestine (now Israel) at age 13
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Moved to England to study
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Toured US cities as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof in the late 1960s and 1970s
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Was frequent guest star on CBS Murder, She Wrote : played Crenshaw in a 1987 episode; world famous opera singer Bertolucci in 1989 s When the Fat Lady Sings ; Uri Lermentov in The List of Uri Lermentov (1991); and Inspector Van Horn in a 1994 episode