Swithin Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 The great singer-actor-humanitarian Theodore Bikel has died in Los Angeles, aged 91. Nominated for an Oscar for The Defiant Ones, he is also the man for whom Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote the song "Edelweiss," to showcase his folk singing talents as Captain Georg von Trapp in the original Broadway cast of The Sound of Music. He had an amazing career in stage, screen, and television and was honored for his dedication to Jewish tradition and for recording Israeli songs. His early film career included a role in The African Queen. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Truly a great actor, across all genres. He did a lot of thankless, difficult parts. He was an actor's actor. My favorite Bikel film is MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhite2000 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 It was only sometime within the past year that I realized the sheriff from THE DEFIANT ONES and the dialect "detective" from MY FAIR LADY were played by the same actor. That is some range. And then looking him up on imdb, I was amazed to discover (at the time) that he was still alive. Looking over his resume, I think there are only two other films of his I've ever seen, THE AFRICAN QUEEN and I WANT TO LIVE! His career was very heavily weighted toward TV work practically from the beginning. I see he played a butcher in two different episodes of ALL IN THE FAMILY, which I'm sure I've seen, as I watched every episode of that series multiple times back in the earliest days of it being syndicated, but it has now been many years since I've seen any of those episodes, so I don't remember him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Bikel also was well known for his performances as Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof." The role was created on Broadway by Zero Mostel and played by Topol in Norman Jewison's 1971 screen version. Other actors who appeared as the character over the years: Herschel Bernardi, Harry Goz and Leonard Nimoy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cigarjoe Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 He's great in Darker Than Amber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I always dug Mr. Bikel. As I used to watch the old folk music TV show "Hootenanny" on ABC, he often also showed up there. That was before I ever saw "The Defiant Ones", and was pleasantly surprised to find out he acted. THEN it struck me! HE was the guy who ALSO shrunk to two inches tall at the end of that TWILIGHT ZONE episode! I'll surely miss him. Sepiatone 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I always dug Mr. Bikel. As I used to watch the old folk music TV show "Hootenanny" on ABC, he often also showed up there. That was before I ever saw "The Defiant Ones", and was pleasantly surprised to find out he acted. THEN it struck me! HE was the guy who ALSO shrunk to two inches tall at the end of that TWILIGHT ZONE episode! I'll surely miss him. Sepiatone a very good actor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr6666 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Also the submarine captain in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody1949 Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Thanks for all that you have given us, Mr. Bikel. You will not be forgotten. G_d bless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts