Actor Topol, who appeared in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ hundreds of times, has died
JEFF LUNDEN
Topol — the actor who went by a single name and who appeared on stage as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof hundreds of times — has died.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Topol, the Israeli actor who starred in the film “Fiddler On The Roof,” has died. He was 87 years old. Israel’s president announced Topol’s passing on Twitter last night. Jeff Lunden has this appreciation.
JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: When the film version of “Fiddler On The Roof” was released in 1971, it starred a relatively obscure actor with a single name, Topol, as Tevye the dairyman.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “FIDDLER ON THE ROOF”)
TOPOL: (As Tevye) Oh, dear Lord, you made many, many poor people. I realize, of course, it’s no shame to be poor. But it’s no great honor, either.
LUNDEN: It was the role of a lifetime.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “FIDDLER ON THE ROOF”)
TOPOL: (As Tevye, singing) If I were a rich man, (vocalizing), all day long, I’d (vocalizing) if I were a wealthy man.
LUNDEN: Born Chaim Topol in Tel Aviv in what was then called Palestine, he trained to be a commercial artist but found his calling as a stage actor, co-founding the Haifa Municipal Theatre, where he played Shakespeare in Hebrew. But when he was cast in an Israeli production of “Fiddler,” it led to him playing the father of five daughters in London when he was just 30. That’s where film director Norman Jewison saw him, and the rest is history.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “FIDDLER ON THE ROOF”)
TOPOL: (As Tevye, singing) Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little boy at play?
LUNDEN: While Topol acted in many movies and television series, Tevye kept calling him back. By his own estimate, he played the role 3,500 times on stage around the world.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “FIDDLER ON THE ROOF”)
TOPOL: (As Tevye, singing) To life, to life.
LUNDEN: For NPR News, I’m Jeff Lunden in New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “FIDDLER ON THE ROOF”)
TOPOL: (As Tevye, singing) L’chaim, l’chaim, to life. Here’s to the father I tried to be.
PAUL MANN: (As Lazar Wolf, singing) Here’s to my bride-to-be.
Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
Stay on top of the latest stories and developments, sent when news breaks.
By subscribing, you agree to NPR’s terms of use and privacy policy. NPR may share your name and email address with your NPR station. See Details. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Sponsor Message
Become an NPR sponsor
By clicking “Accept All Cookies” or continuing, you agree to the use of cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about your device to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic. This information is shared with social media, sponsorship, analytics, and other vendors or service providers. You may customize which cookies you accept in “Cookie Settings.”