Theodore Bikel Remembered: Fiddler on the Roof Actor and Activist Speaks Out on Israel and Palestine
AMY GOODMAN: Yes, that is actor, singer, activist Theodore Bikel, famous for playing, among other characters, Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.
Theodore Bikel died on Tuesday at the age of 91. I interviewed him last
year, and today we spend the hour featuring our conversation. I began
by asking Theodore Bikel why this issue of Bedouin displacement was so
important to him.
THEODORE BIKEL: There is a human equation here, and it has to do with the basic
humanity of human beings who are nominally free to pursue whatever it is
that their faith tells them to do, people who lived on the land for
centuries, long before there was even a state of Israel, who all of a
sudden are being told to get out, to be relocated, an agrarian society
that is forced into sometimes urban ghettos. It seems less than just.
The point is that these are not simple questions, and complicated
questions very often ask for complicated answers. But one thing that is
absolutely clear in my mind is that human beings cannot be treated like
cattle. Human beings must be given the dignity and the respect that all
human beings deserve, especially by a people who themselves—Jews—have
experienced such deprivation in the past. So when I say that the very
people who were told to get out of Anatevka in the fictional village of Fiddler on the Roof,
the descendants of those very people are now telling others, strangers
in their midst, that they must get out of their homes, seems
fundamentally wrong. And a wrong cannot be allowed to stand.
Now, I’m not a naive person. I know—and I’ve said this before—this is
a complicated question, and the Bedouin themselves don’t always agree
among themselves about what the solution is. I also know that the
commissions that have been in place never consulted them, never had them
as part of the solution. And that is wrong also. You cannot tell people
to get out of their homes without their having a say in it.
There was a commission headed by former Justice Goldberg of the
Supreme Court of Israel that had recommendation powers, but no
implementation powers. Later, there was another commission by Prawer and
Benny Begin, the son of Prime Minister Begin, and that came to naught
because people on the right objected to the plan, saying that it gave
away too much, and people on the left objected, saying that it gave too
little.
Again, it’s not a simple question, but what is simple to me is the
fact that we’re talking here about human beings, citizens of a state,
whether or not you want it, whether or not it is true. But the basic law
of Israel speaks of all its inhabitants regardless of their providence,
regardless of their faith, regardless of the color of their skin. And
that, we surely—we, as Americans—must understand.
Bikel died of natural causes on Tuesday morning at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, publicist Harlan Boll announced.
Internationally
renowned and respected as one of the most versatile actors of his
generation, Bikel received an Academy Award nomination as best
supporting actor for "The Defiant Ones" (1958), where he played a
Southern sheriff.
Conversant in a
number of languages, Bikel's background and versatility led to a wide,
multinational range of roles. Often playing authority figures, the
native of Vienna starred as a Dutch doctor in "The Little Kidnappers"
(1953); a Germany submarine officer in "The Enemy Below" (1957); a
French general in "The Pride and the Passion" (1957); Russian military
men in in "Fraulein" (1958) and "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians
Are Coming" (1965); and a Hungarian phonetics expert in "My Fair Lady"
(1964),
Other memorable feature credits
include "The African Queen" (1951), "I Want to Live!" (1958), "See You
in the Morning" (1989), "Crisis in the Kremlin" (1992) and "Shadow
Conspiracy" (1996).
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In
"The Sound of Music," which opened on Broadway in 1959 and ran until
1963, Bikel earned a Tony Award nomination for his work. The musical
also starred Mary Martin as Maria. (Julie Andrews and Christopher
Plummer took their parts in the 1965 version, which won the Oscar for
best picture.)
Actor and folksinger Theodore Bikel, seen here in 2003, had a long and successful career.
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On
television, Bikel made hundreds of appearances, co-starring as Henry
Kissinger in the 1989 ABC miniseries "The Final Days" and guesting on
shows as diverse as "The Twilight Zone," "Gunsmoke," "All in the
Family," "Law & Order," "JAG," "Colombo" and "Star Trek: The Next
Generation." He had recurring roles on the primetime soaps "Dynasty" and
"Falcon Crest."
Bikel did a weekly
radio program, "At Home With Theodore Bikel," which was nationally
syndicated. He is the author of "Folksongs and Footnotes," and his
autobiography "Theo" was published in 1994.
Late
into his life, Bikel wrote and starred in numerous performances of the
play and musical "Sholom Aleichem: Laughter Through Tears," which had
its world premiere in Washington in 2008.
More recent film credits include "Dark Tower" (1989), "Second Chances" (1998) and "Crime and Punishment" (2002).
Bikel
appeared in opera productions including "La Gazza Ladra," Philadelphia
Opera Company (1989); "The Abduction From the Seraglio," Cleveland Opera
Company (1992), "Ariadne auf Naxos," Los Angeles Opera Company (1992);
and "Die Fledermaus," Yale Opera Company (1998).
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On
Broadway in the 1950s, he starred in productions including "Tonight in
Samarkand," "The Rope Dancers" (in which he received a Tony Award
nomination) and "The Lark."
Bikel was a
noteworthy recording artist who enjoyed international popularity as a
folk singer. He appeared at Carnegie Hall and sang for Queen Elizabeth,
and in 1961, he founded the Newport Folk Festival.
He
recorded 37 albums, more than 20 for Electra. "Folksong of Israel," "A
Young Man and a Maid" and "An Actor's Holiday" featured songs in 12
languages, including Ukrainian and Zulu. He collected exotic folk
instruments, sang with Pete Seeger and once owned a bistro in Hollywood.
A
civil rights activist who became a naturalized American citizen in
1961, he was appointed by President Carter in 1977 to serve a five-year
term on the National Council for the Arts.
"Everything
that I've done and that I've lived through" Bikel said in a 2001
interview, "has really informed a commitment I have. I'm not just
somebody who mouths words or sings songs on the stage; I'm also a human
being, and that counts for something."
Bikel
was a delegate to the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, senior vp
of the American Jewish Congress, vp of the International Federation of
Actors (1981-91), a board member of Amnesty International (USA) and
president of the Associated Actors and Artistes of America. He also was
president emeritus of Actors Equity, which he served as president from
1973-82.
Bikel was born in Vienna on
May 2, 1924. He was educated in Austria until the Nazis arrived when he
was 13. His father, an insurance salesman and ardent Zionist, soon moved
his family to Palestine (later Israel) and became director of the
public health service. Bikel spent his teens living on a kibbutz and got
his first acting job as a Czarist constable in a Hebrew production of
the Tevye stories.
In 1946, he went to
London to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatics Arts. He followed with
work on the London stage, winning acclaim for his performance in
Laurence Olivier's production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Bikel also
was noteworthy in Peter Ustinov's "The Love of Four Colonels."
Bikel
came to the U.S. in 1954 to appear with Louis Jourdan in "Tonight in
Samarkand" on Broadway. Strong critical notices helped him land the main
supporting role opposite Julie Harris in "The Lark."
He
lived for many years in Connecticut and belonged to the Theater Artists
Workshop of Westport. Most recently, he lived in Southern California.
Active
until the end, Bikel was touring festivals with screenings of his
latest film, "Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem."
Survivors include his wife Aimee, sons Rob and Danny, stepsons Zeev and Noam and three grandchildren.
Donations can be made to The Actors Fund or Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger.
When
he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National
Foundation for Jewish Culture in 1997, Bikel said: "In my world, history
comes down to language and art. No one cares much about what battles
were fought, who won them and who lost them -- unless there is a
painting, a play, a song or a poem that speaks of the event."
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