Theodore Meir Bikel (May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, musician and composer. He made his stage debut in Israel, playing a supporting role in Tevye the Milkman, the play that would later form the basis for Fiddler on the Roof. Bikel would, fittingly enough, become the actor most associated with the role of Tevye in the latter production. He is also remembered for The Defiant Ones (for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and 200 Motels.
Bikel was also a Folk Music singer and musician who released 20+ albums of folk songs from around the world (and the occasional pop record).
Bikel was married four times: to Ofra Ichilov, Rita Weinberg, Tamara Brooks, and Aimee Ginsberg. In all he had two children.
Works with Theodore Bikel:
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Film
- 1951 Island Rescue: Man at Newspaper Vendor (Uncredited Role)
- 1951 The African Queen: First Officer
- 1952 Moulin Rouge King Milo IV of Serbia
- 1953 Desperate Moment: Anton Meyer
- 1953 Never Let Me Go: Lieutenant
- 1953 Melba: Paul Brotha
- 1953 A Day To Remember: Henri Dubot
- 1953 The Little Kidnappers: Dr. Willem Bloem
- 1954 The Love Lottery: Parsimonious
- 1954 Forbidden Cargo: Max
- 1954 Chance Meeting: Joseph
- 1954 Betrayed: German Sergeant (Uncredited)
- 1954 The Divided Heart: Josip
- 1955 The Colditz Story: Vandy
- 1955 Above Us The Waves: German Officer
- 1956 Escape From The Iron Curtain: Col. Sandor Kosice
- 1957 There Shall Be No Night: Uncle Vlahos (Made-for-TV Movie)
- 1957 The Vintage: Eduardo Uribon
- 1957 The Pride And The Passion: Gen. Jouvet
- 1957 The Enemy Below: “Heinie” Schwafer
- 1958 Fraulein: Col. Dmitri Bucaron
- 1958 The Defiant Ones: Sheriff Max Muller
- 1958 I Bury The Living: Andy McKee
- 1958 I Want to Live!: Carl G. G. Palmberg
- 1959 The Angry Hills: Dimitrios Tassos
- 1959 The Blue Angel: Klepert
- 1960 A Dog of Flanders: Piet van Gelder
- 1964 My Fair Lady: Zoltan Karpathy
- 1965 Who Has Seen The Wind: Josef Radek (TV Movie)
- 1965 Sands of the Kalahari: Dr. Bondrachai
- 1966 The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming: The Russian Captain
- 1967 Beyond The Mountains: Kisielev
- 1968 Sweet November: Alonzo
- 1969 My Side of the Mountain: Bando
- 1970 Darker Than Amber: Meyer
- 1971 200 Motels: Rance Muhammitz / Dave
- 1972 Killer By Night: Sgt. Phil 'Sharkey' Gold
- 1972 The Little Ark: The Captain
- 1975 Murder on Flight 502: Otto Gruenwaldt
- 1976 Victory At Entebbe: Yakov Shlomo (TV Movie)
- 1978 The Stingiest Man In Town: Marley’s Ghost (TV Movie)
- 1980 The Return of the King: Aragorn (TV Movie)
- 1984 Very Close Quarters: Victor
- 1986 Prince Jack: Georgi
- 1987 Dark Tower: Max Gold
- 1988 A Stoning In Fulham County: Abe Moser (TV Movie)
- 1989 See You In The Morning: Bronie
- 1989 The Final Days: Henry Kissinger (TV Movie)
- 1991 Shattered: Dr. Berkus
- 1992 Crisis In The Kremlin: Leo
- 1993 Benefit Of The Doubt: Gideon Lee
- 1993 My Family Treasure: Grandpa Danieloff
- 1997 Shadow Conspiracy: Prof. Yuri Pochenko
- 1998 Babylon 5: In the Beginning: Lenonn (TV Movie)
- 1998 Second Chances: Dutch John Hathaway
- 2000 HUD: Ambassador Bjorn Jorgensen
- 2002 Crime and Punishment: Captain Koch
- 2007 The Little Traitor: Interrogator
Short Films
- 1998 Trickle: Mr. Fix
Television
- 1953 Johnny Youre Wanted: Ferrari
- 1955 The Elgin Hour: Mr. Wu (1 episode)
- 1955 Appointment With Adventure: Richter/Louis Du Bois (2 episodes)
- 1955-56 Goodyear Playhouse: Paul Laurent (2 episodes)
- 1955-56 The United States Steel Hour: Fritz Gerhardy/Grigor Dimitorski (2 episodes)
- 1955-57 Studio One: Machek/Julius Caesar/Grossman/Henri Blanchard (4 episodes)
- 1956 The Alcoa Hour: Il Vecchio (1 episode)
- 1957 Climax: Martin Humphries (1 episode)
- 1957 Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Sergeant Ottermole (1 episode)
- 1958 The Du Pont Show Of The Month: Capt. Alvarado (1 episode)
- 1958 Playhouse 90: Rapp (1 episode)
- 1958 Folio: Barbaso (1 episode)
- 1959 Hotel De Paree: Carmoody (1 episode)
- 1960 Play Of The Week: Sender (1 episode)
- 1961-62 Naked City: Nicholas Ross / Nicholas Rozinski/Dr. Stanley Wilford (2 episodes)
- 1962 Wagon Train: Dr. Denker (1 episode)
- 1962 The Twilight Zone (1959): Oliver Crangle (1 episode)
- 1962 The Dick Powell Theatre: Captain Bellini/Nicholas Simonakis (2 episodes)
- 1962 General Electric Theater: Rabbi Halevy (1 episode)
- 1962 Dr. Kildare: Dr. Mahmel Homatka (1 episode)
- 1962 Route 66: Dr. Anton Koseloff (1 episode)
- 1962 Sam Benedict: Neil Bonney (1 episode)
- 1962 Alcoa Premiere: Stefan Tamarow (1 episode)
- 1963 The Du Pont Show Of The Week: Diamond Cutter Herbert Vanderling (1 episode)
- 1963 East Side West Side: George Everett, Sr. (1 episode)
- 1963 Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre: Ralph Traven (1 episode)
- 1964 The Doctors And The Nurses: Dr. Kralik (1 episode)
- 1964 Combat: Francois Perrault (1 episode)
- 1964 Rawhide: Pence (1 episode)
- 1964-65 Burke's Law: Vic Bates/Senor Manfred Gonzales (2 episodes)
- 1965 Gunsmoke: Kellums (1 episode)
- 1965 The Trials Of O Brien: Bob Moravian (1 episode)
- 1966 ABC Stage 67: Homer T. Hatch (1 episode)
- 1968 Mission: Impossible: General Casimir Zepke (1 episode)
- 1969 Hawaii Five-O: Prof. Erich Stoss (1 episode)
- 1971 Ironside (1967): Arschag Divinian (1 episode)
- 1972 Cannon: Mike Tampa (1 episode)
- 1973 The Mod Squad: Max Kalatsis (1 episode)
- 1975 Medical Story: Danziger (1 episode)
- 1976 Medical Center: Joseph Zankov (1 episode)
- 1976 Ellery Queen: Sergio Vargo (1 episode)
- 1976 Little House on the Prairie: Yuli Pyatakov (1 episode)
- 1977 Charlie's Angels: Prof. Wycinski (1 episode)
- 1977 Columbo: Oliver Brandt (1 episode)
- 1977 Testimony Of Two Men: Peter Heger
- 1977 The San Pedro Beach Bums: Rashid (1 episode)
- 1978 Police Woman: Adamus Tarash (1 episode)
- 1978 Loose Change: Tom Feiffer (1 episode)
- 1978 The Amazing Spider-Man (1978): Mandak (1 episode)
- 1978 Fantasy Island: Ambassador Eric Solo (1 episode)
- 1978-79 All in the Family: Albrecht “Alvin” Klemmer (2 episodes)
- 1982 Trapper John, M.D.: Vladimir Lopatkin (1 episode)
- 1983 Knight Rider: Graham Deauville (1 episode)
- 1985 Hotel: Constantin Markos (1 episode)
- 1985 Cover Up: Assad (1 episode)
- 1985 The Fall Guy: Kamal (1 episode)
- 1985 Dynasty: Warnick (1 episode)
- 1986 The Paper Chase: Professor George Ballard (1 episode)
- 1987 The New Mike Hammer: Russell Garringer (1 episode)
- 1987-88 Falcon Crest: Marin Dimitrov (4 episodes)
- 1987-94 Murder, She Wrote: Professor Harold Crenshaw/Rosanno Bertolucci/Yuri Lermentov/Inspector Van Horn (4 episodes)
- 1988 Beauty and the Beast (1987): Eli (1 episode)
- 1989-90 Christine Cromwell: Horst Reichert (3 episodes)
- 1990 Star Trek: The Next Generation: CPO Sergey Rozhenko, ret. (1 episode)
- 1991 The New Lassie: Scotty MacPherson (1 episode)
- 1991 Memories Of Midnight: Napoleon Chotas (1 episode)
- 1992 L.A. Law: Kurt Rubin (1 episode)
- 1994 Law & Order: Sol Bregman (1 episode)
- 1994 Babylon 5: Rabbi Koslov (1 episode)
- 1996 The Burning Zone: Old Priest (1 episode)
- 1997 Brooklyn South: Solomon Shuyler (1 episode)
- 1998 The Pretender: Dr. Werner Krieg / Martin Zeller (1 episode)
- 2003 JAG: Farmer with Plane (1 episode)
Tropes associated with Theodore Bikel:
- Named After Somebody Famous: His father, an ardent Zionist, named him after Theodor Herzl.
