James Bond and Flash Gordon star Chaim Topol dies after Alzheimer’s battle

09 March 2023 , 06:29

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Chaim Topol has died at the age of 87

Fiddler on the Roof star Chaim Topol has died after a battle with Alzheimer's disease.

The actor starred in the hit musical on stage and screen performing the role of Teyve the milkman more than 3,500 times on both stage and screen from the late 1960s until 2009.

He also starred in James Bond classic For Your Eyes Only and the sci-fi movie Flash Gordon.

Topol's death was confirmed by Israel president Issac Herzog, who described him as a "gifted actor who conquered many stages in Israel and overseas, filled the cinema screens with his presence and especially entered deep into our hearts.”

Topol was 87.

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The actor began his lifetime association with Teyve the milkman in musical Fiddler on the Roof after starring in the West End production in 1967, which ran for over 2000 performances.

He then continued the role in Norman Jewison's 1971 film version. The movie was a smash hit made from a budget of $9million and going on to gross $80million at the worldwide box office.

The film was also a critical success, being nominated for eight Oscars - including best picture and a best actor nod for Topol.

Despite being on active service with the Israeli Army at the time, he was granted permission to attend the awards ceremony.

Topol returned to the role in 1990 for the Tony award winning Broadway revival which earned him a nomination for best actor in a musical.

In 1980 he starred as Dr Hans Zarkov in camp sci-fi movie Flash Gordon alongside Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed.

Topol's death was announced by the president of Israel (Ariel Schalit/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

A year later Topol starred alongside Roger Moore's 007 in James Bond's For Your Eyes Only playing played Greek smuggler Columbo.I

In 2015 Topol was awarded Israel’s highest honor: the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement.

Topol was born in 1935 and grew up in a working-class area of Tel Aviv.

Among his earliest film appearances was the lead role in the 1964 film Sallah Shabati by Ephraim Kishon.

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The play, later adapted for film, depicted the hardships of a Mizrachi Jewish immigrant family in Israel of the early 1960s.

The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and earned Topol the Golden Globe award for new star of the year.

Chaim Topol played milkman Tevje in musical Fiddler on the Roof for over 3000 performances on stage and screen

In 1966, he made his first English-language screen appearance as Abou Ibn Kaqden in the big-budget Mickey Marcus biopic Cast a Giant Shadow.

It was then that he landed the role that would shoot him to prominence, as the milkman Tevye in stage-show Fiddler on the Roof, performed at Her Majesty’s Theatre, in London.

After scoring a major success on the West End stage, Topol later starred in the 1971 film version, which earned him his Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.

Despite being on active service with the Israeli Army at the time, he was granted permission to attend the awards ceremonies.

The actor went on to take the leading role in the musical The Baker’s Wife, but was fired after eight months by director David Merrick for 'unprofessional behaviour'.

In 2005, he was voted the 90th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.

In January 2009, Topol began a farewell tour of Fiddler on the Roof as Tevye, but was forced to withdraw from the tour owing to a shoulder injury.

He made his last appearance as his famed character in Boston, Massachusetts in November 2009.

In addition to acting, Topol also dedicated his time to charitable causes and founded Variety Israel – an organisation that provides support for children living with disabilities and their families.

He also served as the president of Jordan River Village, a free overnight camp for Israeli children living with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.

In 2015 the actor was awarded the Israel Prize – the country’s most prestigious award – for lifetime achievement and special contribution to society and the state.

In the days leading up to his death, his son told Ynet that the actor had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease several years ago.

Omer Topol said that his father is an “amazing actor who developed all kinds of tactics to cover up the problems that began to arise.

“When he won the Israel Prize, his Alzheimer’s was in its early stages,” Omer said.

“He spoke wonderfully at the ceremony, and also at other events, and no one even felt it.”

Topol is outlived by his wife Galia, who he married in 1965, and the couple’s three children, daughters Anat and Ady and son Omer.

Lucy Needham