Chaim Topol

His father Jacob Topol was born in Russia and in the early 1930s immigrated to Mandatory Palestine, where he worked as a plasterer; he also served in the Haganah paramilitary organization.

His mother Imrela "Rel" (née Goldman) Topol was a seamstress.

Topol's parents had been members of the Betar Zionist youth movement in Warsaw.

His father had Hasidic roots, with a mother coming from a family of Gerrer Hasidim and a father from Aleksander Hasidim.

Topol and his two younger sisters grew up in the South Tel Aviv working-class neighborhood of Florentin.

As a young child, although he wanted to become a commercial artist, his elementary school teacher, the writer Yemima Avidar-Tchernovitz, saw a theatrical side to him, and encouraged him to act in school plays and read stories to the class.

At age 14 he began working as a printer at Davar newspaper while pursuing his high school studies at night.

He graduated at age 17 and moved to Kibbutz Geva.

A year later, he enlisted in the Israeli army and became a member of the Nahal entertainment troupe, singing and acting in traveling shows.

He rose in rank to troupe commander.

Chaim Topol (חיים טופול; September 9, 1935 – March 8, 2023), mononymously known as Topol, was an Israeli actor, singer, and illustrator.

Twenty-three days after being discharged from military service on October 2, 1956, and two days after marrying Galia Finkelstein, a fellow Nahal troupe member, Topol was called up for reserve duty in the Sinai Campaign.

He performed for soldiers stationed in the desert.

After the war, he and his wife settled in Kibbutz Mishmar David, where Topol worked as a garage mechanic.

Topol assembled a kibbutz theatre company made up of friends from his Nahal troupe; the group toured four days a week, worked on their respective kibbutzim for two days a week, and had one day off.

The theatre company was in existence from early 1957 to the mid-1960s.

Topol both sang and acted with the group, doing both "loudly".

Topol and his wife Galia Finkelstein had three children: a son and two daughters.

The couple resided in Galia's childhood home in Tel Aviv.

Topol's hobbies included sketching and sculpting.

In June 2022, Topol's son, Omer, revealed that his father was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

On March 8, 2023, Topol's family notified the press that he was near death and "living his final hours", and asked the public to respect the family's privacy.

He died "overnight", at the age of 87.

Prior to his burial at Kvutzat Shiller on March 10, a memorial was held at Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv, March 9.

He was described as Israel's only internationally recognized entertainer from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Between 1960 and 1964, Topol performed with the Batzal Yarok ("Green Onion") satirical theatre company, which also toured Israel.

Other members of the group included Uri Zohar, Nechama Hendel, Zaharira Harifai, Arik Einstein, and Oded Kotler.

In 1960, Topol co-founded the Haifa Municipal Theatre with Yosef Milo, serving as assistant to the director and acting in plays by Shakespeare, Ionesco, and Brecht.

Topol's first film appearance was in the 1961 film I Like Mike, followed by the 1963 Israeli film El Dorado.

His breakthrough film role came in 1964 as the title character in Sallah Shabati, by Israeli writer Ephraim Kishon, for which he won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer—Male.

In 1965 he performed in the Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv.

He is best known for his portrayal of Tevye, the lead role in the stage musical Fiddler on the Roof and the 1971 film adaptation, performing this role more than 3,500 times from 1967 through 2009.

Topol began acting during his Israeli army service as a member of the Nahal entertainment troupe.

He later toured Israel with kibbutz theatre and satirical theatre companies.

He was a co-founder of the Haifa Theatre.

He won a Golden Globe for Best Actor and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his 1971 film portrayal of Tevye, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor for a 1991 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof.

Topol was a founder of Variety Israel, an organization serving children with special needs, and Jordan River Village, a year-round camp for Arab and Jewish children with life-threatening illnesses, for which he served as chairman of the board.

Topol went on to appear in more than 30 films in Israel and the United States, including Galileo (1975), Flash Gordon (1980), and For Your Eyes Only (1981).

In 2015 he was awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement.

Chaim Topol was born in Tel Aviv, in what was then Mandatory Palestine.