Theodore Bikel
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Theodore Bikel. Photo from [1] by permission. |
Theodore Bikel (born
May 2,
1924) is an
Austrian-born
character actor, folk singer and musician. He made his film debut in
The African Queen and was nominated for an
Academy award for his role as the Southern Sheriff in
The Defiant Ones.
He played the Captain in the original Broadway cast of
The Sound of Music, and also played
Tevye in the original run (but not the original cast) of
Fiddler On the Roof. He has performed the role of Tevye more often than any other actor (2094 times to date.)
Bikel was a co-founder of the
Newport Folk Festival (together with
Pete Seeger and
George Wein) in 1961. In
1962 he heard
Bob Dylan give his premiere performance of "
Blowin' In the Wind." Bikel then went to his scheduled performance and became the first singer besides Dylan to perform the song in public.
In the early 1990s, he appeared on
Star Trek: The Next Generation, in the episode "
Family", playing
Sergey Rozhenko, the Russian-born adopted father of
Worf, who, as a
petty officer on the
Starfleet vessel
Intrepid, had found
Worf at the site of the Khitomer Massacre, and taken him home and to raise as his son. Bikel performed two roles in the
Babylon 5 universe. The first was as Rabbi Koslov in the first season episode
TKO. He later appeared in the TV movie,
Babylon 5: In the Beginning as
Anla'Shok leader Entil'Zha
Lenonn.
Bikel was president of
Actors' Equity in the late 1970's and early 1980's.
President Jimmy Carter appointed him to serve on the National Council for the Arts in 1977 for a six year term. Bikel is also a lecturer.
Bikel's
autobiography Theo was published in 1995 by
Harper Collins, and re-issued in an updated version by the
University of Wisconsin Press in 2002.
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The Theodore Bikel Web Site
