Israeli actor, singer and Israel Prize laureate Chaim Topol passed away overnight Wednesday at the age of 87.
Topol was best known for his portrayal of Tevye, the lead role in both the stage musical Fiddler on the Roof as well as the 1971 film adaptation.
He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease several years ago, and his condition deteriorated in recent days.
Omer, Topol's son, told the Mako website on Wednesday that his father was on his deathbed. "We are here at home with him, he is surrounded and loved," he said. "He is still with us in his final hours, so it seems. He is here at home, the children are here, the grandchildren are here around him. All his loved ones and lovers are around him. May he pass quickly and easily."
No funeral details have been announced yet.
Topol was born on September 9, 1935 in Tel Aviv. He began his acting career during his Israeli army service in the Nahal entertainment troupe, and later toured Israel with kibbutz theatre and satirical theatre companies. He was a co-founder of the Haifa Theatre.
His breakthrough film role came in 1964 as the title character in Sallah Shabati, by Israeli writer Ephraim Kishon, for which he won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer—Male. Topol went on to appear in more than 30 films in Israel and the United States, winning a Golden Globe for Best Actor.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his 1971 film portrayal of Tevye, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor for a 1991 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof.
In 2015 he was awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement. He also received an honorary doctorate from Haifa University and Bar Ilan University.
10 comments:
The top picture is Zero Mostel from Bensonhurst who played Tevye in the mid-1970s Hollywood adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof. Sadly the nickname Zero from his neurotic mother stuck. Instead of sending him to yeshiva, she was always calling him the zero who will amount to zero altz what she dementedly hoped would be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The Tevye character was actually invented by Sholem Aleichem the Maskil, so it raised eyebrows in the yeshivishe oylam when Rubashkin gave the name Tevye's to his post-Postville chazirei from South America that he secretly owns behind the back of the Feds. But it shockingly didn't make much of a stir in Lubavitch itself despite that a bunch of Schneersohn daughters married infamous Maskilim like Ahad Ha'am, which caused rebbitzens of the frierdik Rebbes to cry their hearts out.
Regardless of your absurd general comments, you are absolutely wrong about the pictures. You obviously have no clue who zero mostel was and what he looked like.
10:03
The photo is in fact Topol
In some performances when Mostel was pitzed up as Tevya he did bear a very uncanny resemblance to Topol. 6:38 pm is however correct that the picture is Topol.
What's eating at 6:35 pm? Because someone equated Yiddishists with Maskilim? In a way that is also always correct.
Topol's father was incidentally an Aleksander chussid & the mother was from a Gerrer mishpuche.
@ 10:03 ironically and strangely, the rebbe's artsy cousin, the poet zelda schneerson mishkovsky (who was also amos oz's moreh when he was a little kid), stayed frum and even married a litvak who was a brother (and son) of the roshei yeshivah of kfar chassidim, rabbis dovid and eliyahu mishkovsky.
Rather pathetic that Achad HaAm took his name from a mayseh znus! He was raised as a Skverer.
It's takkeh brought in seforim about the Chabadsker rebbitzens crying.
chabad has had a lot of strange history, especially since the 7th rebbe opened up his chassiduss to the modern world...there was a break between the 6th and 7th generations of chabad...it did not go away even after the rebbe's purported passing in '94...(barry gurary was nifter in 2005)...even famous and influential Chabad Chassidim, (such as reb shmuel levitin and others) who accepted the 7th rebbe, were still not a fan of many of his projects, despite their admiration for him. nowadays in chabad, a mechallel shabbos, oichelai navelois, and boalei niddah get an aliyah in the rebbe's minyan in 770 faster then a clean shaven litvishe yid who is holding in learning, (if they allow him to get an aliyah at all)...its a shame to see the chabad of reb chaim naeh, the radatz, reb mendel morozov, and other great chassidim throughout the generations, replaced by tailgating parties at football games and seders in tibet...perhaps reb yoel kahn z"l was the last of the old school greats...
Did Sol Werdiger attend the levaya as representative of Ger?
R' Avrohom Chaim Naeh baal Ketzos Hashulchan was a Chabadsker????
Lehavdil bain chaim lechaim, Slabodker rosh yeshiva Rav Landau definitely is.
And old school Chabadsker in America complained to a Litvisher rosh yeshiva that Lubavitch is the new Conservative. He was only complaining about the parking lots of many Chabad houses left open on Shabbos, but it's much worse than that. Rav Zaionce from Brazil who was the zkan Lubavitcher rabbonim was moyche bichsav against the greedy shluchim who are mekarev intermarried goyim which is 100% assur according to everyone and which the 7th Rebbe was previously moyche against. The worst of all not mentioned in the teshuva, are the Chiloni Israelis chasing American Shvartza shiksas. There are more than you realize. These disgusting baalei tayvah have zero interest in Torah umitzvos but they come to Chabads with 2 objectives while they totally disrespect any kind of tefillah betzibur that they ignore to loudly conduct bull sessions. Sometimes they don't even have enough respect to put on a yarmulka! They come for the food & to show everyone that they got their Shvartza cake & Orthodox Lubavitch of all places are their accomplices to eat it. What some of the shluchim will do for a few bucks! Sheesh! It's vomit inducing to see the Tanya-beyado beards flattering the Shecharcharot with their Mulatto offspring.
yes, rav chaim naeh was a lubavitcher chossid, and an old school yerushalmi kanoi as well. he was the safra d'dayna of the edah charedis under the maharitz dushinsky and worked under rav zonnenfeld. there was an old school yerushalmi chabad community with well known chabad families such as the orenstiens (rov of the kosel), webers, havlins (yeshivas toras emes), and rivkins (later rosh yeshiva of torah vodass) and some eisenbachs. bear in mind, the rebbe rashab ztzl was a kanoi of satmar like porportions against tzionus and that is a main reason why chabad did not join the agudah. (a quick google search of rav chaim naeh will show him wearing yerushalmi begadim).
stam azoi, chabad back then wasn't as centralized and organized nor baal shemske. it was very litvishe like. that was only when the rayaatz and his son in law, the then ramash, created a central body to unite all factions of chabad chassidim and spread messianism etc. etc.that lubavitch became the monolith that it was under the 7th rebbe...
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