Theodore Bikel, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ Star, Dies at 91
July 21, 2015 | 11:55AM PT
Carmel Dagan
Oscar- and Tony-nominated character actor and folk singer Theodore Bikel, who originated the role of Captain von Trapp in “The Sound of Music” on Broadway and starred in “Fiddler on the Roof” onstage in thousands of performances, died Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. He was 91.
In a statement Tuesday, Actors’ Equity Association said it “mourns the passing of our dear friend, our brother and former President Theo Bikel. From the time he joined Equity in 1954, Bikel has been an advocate for the members of our union and his extraordinary achievements paved the way for so many. No one loved theater more, his union better or cherished actors like Theo did. He has left an indelible mark on generation of members past and generations of members to come. We thank you, Theo, for all you have done.”
To some, he is best known for his 1990 appearance on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as the Russian adopted father of the Klingon Worf.
Bikel did his first bigscreen work in John Huston’s 1951 classic “The African Queen” and Huston’s “Moulin Rouge.” After acting in a series of English films, he did supporting work in two high-profile pics in 1957: historical epic “The Pride and the Passion,” starring Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren, and “The Enemy Below,” a WWII submarine thriller starring Robert Mitchum.
He often played Germans or Russians — in his autobiography, Bikel said that his facility with accents resulted in his typecasting “as the poor man’s Peter Ustinov.” But in Stanley Kramer’s 1958 film “The Defiant Ones,” starring Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis, he portrayed a Southern sheriff pursuing a pair of fugitives — and was Oscar nominated for the role.
Bikel had notable supporting turns in Susan Hayward starrer “I Want to Live!” and the remake of “The Blue Angel.” He played dialect expert Zoltan Karpathy in the 1964 film version of “My Fair Lady” and the captain of the Russian submarine in “The Russians are Coming, the Russians Are Coming,” and he appeared in Frank Zappa’s experimental “200 Motels.”
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