Theodore Bikel facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Theodore Bikel
Bikel in 2009
Born	Theodore Meir Bikel (1924-05-02)May 2, 1924 Vienna, Austria
Died	July 21, 2015(2015-07-21) (aged 91) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
Occupation	Actor, folk singer
Years active	1943–2013
Spouse(s)	Ofra Ichilov ​ ​ (m. 1942; div. 1943)​ Rita Weinberg Call ​ ​ (m. 1967; div. 2008)​ Tamara Brooks ​ ​ (m. 2008; died 2012)​ Aimee Ginsburg ​ ​ (m. 2013)​
Children	2
9th President of the American Actors' Equity Association
In office 1973–1982
Preceded by	Frederick O'Neal
Succeeded by	Ellen Burstyn

Theodore Meir Bikel (pronounced bih-KEL; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was a talented actor, folk singer, musician, and political activist. He was born in Austria and later became an American citizen. Bikel was known for his many roles in movies and on stage.

He appeared in famous films like The African Queen (1951) and My Fair Lady (1964). He was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Defiant Ones (1958).

On stage, Bikel first performed in Tevye the Milkman when he was a teenager. He later became famous for playing Captain von Trapp in the original Broadway show of The Sound of Music. He also played Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof more than any other actor, performing the role over 2,000 times.

Beyond acting, Bikel was a well-known folk singer and guitarist. He helped start the Newport Folk Festival in 1959. He was also a strong supporter of workers' rights and human rights. He served as president of the Actors' Equity Association, a union for actors, for many years.

The Early Life of Theodore Bikel

Theodore Bikel was born in Vienna, Austria, into a Jewish family. His father, Josef Bikel, was a Zionist, which is why Theodore was named after Theodor Herzl, a founder of modern Zionism.

In 1938, when Germany took over Austria, Bikel's family had to leave. They moved to Mandatory Palestine, where his father's connections helped them get British passports. Theodore studied at an agricultural school and joined a Kibbutz, which is a community farm.

Bikel started acting when he was a teenager. He performed with the Habimah Theatre in 1943. He also helped create the Cameri Theatre, which became a very important theatre company in Israel. He felt his acting training there was excellent, similar to the "method acting" taught in New York.

In 1945, he moved to London to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He quickly found work in British films, often playing different European characters. Even though he was successful in the UK, Bikel moved to the United States in 1954 to work in Hollywood and on Broadway. He became an American citizen in 1961.

Theodore Bikel's Career

Theodore Bikel was known for being a very flexible actor. He could play characters from many different countries and backgrounds. He believed this helped keep his acting fresh and exciting.

Acting on Screen and Stage

Bikel (back, center), performing in The Elgin Hour, 1955.

In 1948, famous actor Laurence Olivier chose Bikel to be an understudy for a play called A Streetcar Named Desire. Bikel also had a small role in the play. One night, a main actor got sick, and Bikel had to step in. He performed opposite Vivien Leigh, a very famous actress. She told him, "Well done," after the show.

Bikel played many different types of characters on television. He was an Armenian merchant on Ironside, a Polish professor on Charlie's Angels, and a Belarusian on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

In movies, he played a German officer in The African Queen (1951) and The Enemy Below (1957). He was a Southern sheriff in The Defiant Ones and a Russian submarine captain in the comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966). In My Fair Lady (1964), he played Zoltan Karpathy, an expert in different accents.

Bikel made his Broadway debut in 1955. In 1959, he created the role of Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music. This role earned him a Tony Award nomination. He didn't love the role because he felt his singing talents weren't fully used. The composers, Rodgers and Hammerstein, even wrote the song "Edelweiss" specifically for him to sing and play on his guitar.

From 1967, Bikel played Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof more than 2,000 times. This is more than any other actor has played the role!

Bikel also appeared as a guest star on many popular TV shows. These included The Twilight Zone, Wagon Train, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo, Little House on the Prairie, and Murder, She Wrote.

In the early 1990s, he played Sergey Rozhenko, Worf's adoptive father, on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also had two roles in the Babylon 5 universe.

In 2010, Bikel was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his one-man play, Sholom Aleichem: Laughter Through Tears, which he also wrote.

A Folk Singer and Composer

In 1955, Theodore Bikel started recording songs. He made over 20 albums of folk music, including Jewish folk songs and songs from Russia and other countries. He played the acoustic guitar and could sing in 21 different languages! These included Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Russian, and English.

In 1959, Bikel helped create the Newport Folk Festival with other musicians like Pete Seeger. He performed many duets with Judy Collins. Bikel believed that music could help bring people together and give young people hope for a better world.

Bikel saw Bob Dylan as a young artist who used music to share important messages. In 1963, Bikel joined Dylan, Seeger, and others at the Newport Folk Festival to sing "Blowin' in the Wind" and "We Shall Overcome." Bikel even encouraged Dylan to travel with them to a rally in Mississippi.

In 1962, Bikel was the first singer, besides Dylan himself, to perform "Blowin' in the Wind" in public. Bikel also opened one of the first folk music coffee houses in Los Angeles called The Unicorn. He became more and more involved in civil rights and other progressive causes.

Theodore Bikel's Personal Life

Bikel at the Kennedy Center Honors, Washington D.C., 2002

Theodore Bikel was married four times. He had two children with his second wife, Rita Weinberg Call. He was also a member of Mensa International, a group for people with very high IQs.

Political Activism

Bikel was a lifelong activist for civil-rights and human rights. He helped raise money for these causes through his performances. In 1962, he helped start the Actors Federal Credit Union.

He was president of Actors' Equity, the actors' union, from 1977 to 1982. In this role, he strongly supported human rights. He also served as president of the Associated Actors and Artistes of America until 2014.

Actors' Equity shared how much Bikel cared about actors and their union. They said he left a lasting mark on many generations of members.

Bikel was a big supporter of President John F. Kennedy. He even campaigned for Kennedy between his performances in The Sound of Music. The show's producers were not happy at first. However, they stopped complaining when Bikel was picked up by a limousine carrying Eleanor Roosevelt, and he joined her at a political rally.

In 1986, Bikel was arrested while protesting in front of the Soviet Embassy in Washington. He was protesting to help Soviet Jews who were not allowed to leave the Soviet Union.

President Jimmy Carter appointed Bikel to the National Council for the Arts in 1977. This council advises on cultural matters.

The Passing of Theodore Bikel

Theodore Bikel passed away on July 21, 2015, in Los Angeles. He was 91 years old. He was buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Awards and Recognition

Discography

Theodore Bikel recorded many albums throughout his career. Some of his notable works include:

• Folk Songs of Israel (1955)
• Theodore Bikel Sings Jewish Folk Songs (1958)
• Bravo Bikel (Town Hall Concert) (1959)
• The Sound of Music (Original Broadway Cast) (1960)
• A Folksinger’s Choice (1964)
• Theodore Bikel Is Tevye (1968)
• Theodore Bikel Sings Jewish Holiday Songs (1987)
• Theodore Bikel's Treasury of Yiddish Folk & Theatre Songs (2004)

Film and Television Roles

Theodore Bikel had a long career in both films and television. Here are some of his roles:

Film Roles

Television Roles

See also

In Spanish: Theodore Bikel para niños

• List of German-speaking Academy Award winners and nominees
• Long-running musical theatre productions