Theodore Bikel

From Grokipedia

Theodore Meir Bikel (May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-born American actor, folk singer, musician, and activist renowned for his versatile stage and screen performances, linguistic mastery, and advocacy for civil rights and labor causes. Born in Vienna to Jewish parents, Bikel emigrated with his family to Palestine in 1937 to escape Nazi persecution, where he resided on a kibbutz, learned Hebrew, and debuted professionally with the Habima Theatre in Tel Aviv. Relocating to the United States in 1949 and naturalizing as a citizen in 1961, he achieved acclaim for originating roles in Broadway productions like The Sound of Music and, most enduringly, portraying Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof more than 2,000 times in various revivals, earning a Tony Award nomination for his nuanced depiction of the beleaguered Jewish milkman. Beyond performing, Bikel recorded over 20 folk music albums spanning Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, and American traditions; co-founded the Actors Federal Credit Union; and led the Actors' Equity Association as president from 1977 to 1982, while actively marching in civil rights demonstrations in the American South, including alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama, resulting in his arrest for protesting segregation.

In brief

Theodore Meir Bikel ( bih-KEL; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, singer, and political activist. He made his stage debut in Tevye the Milkman in Mandatory Palestine, where he lived as a teenager. He later studied acting at Britain's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and made his London stage debut in 1948 and in New York in 1955.

He was also a widely recognized and recorded folk singer and guitarist. In 1959, he co-founded the Newport Folk Festival, and created the role of Captain von Trapp opposite Mary Martin as Maria in the original Broadway production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music. In 1969, Bikel began acting and singing on stage as Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof.