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Theodore Bikel

Theodore Bikel

Highest Rated: 100% The Stingiest Man in Town (1978)

Lowest Rated: 0% Benefit of the Doubt (1993)

Birthday: May 2, 1924

Birthplace: Vienna, Austria

Internationally renowned actor and folksinger Theodore Bikel made his first stage appearance as the Village Clerk in a Tel Aviv production of "Tevye, the Milkman" and would in fact play the life-loving Tevye so many times in productions of "Fiddler on the Roof" that it became his signature role (although he claimed to have liked "Zorba!" better). After graduating from London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he won acclaim for his work in West End productions of "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1949, directed by Laurence Olivier) and "The Love of Four Colonels" (1951, directed by Peter Ustinov) before making his Broadway debut in "Tonight in Samarkand" (1955). Though he also played Robert de Baudricourt in "The Lark" that year on Broadway, a part he would reprise for the 1967 NBC "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation of "St. Joan" his best-known theatrical credit (aside from Tevye) is probably his creation of Captain Georg von Trapp for the Broadway production of "The Sound of Music" (1959), starring Mary Martin. Bikel's feature debut came as the First officer of the Luisa in the John Huston classic "The African Queen" (1951). He would find himself on (or under) the water again as second-in-command of the German U-boat in "The Enemy Below" (1957) and the (Soviet) Captain in Cold War farce "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming" (1966). In fact, his facility for languages (fluent in Yiddish, Hebrew, French, German and English) helped land a plethora of international roles throughout his career. Bikel earned an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the moderate sheriff in "The Defiant Ones" (1958), and he played Russian linguist Zoltan Karpathy in the Academy Award-winning "My Fair Lady" (1964). A guest star on countless TV series, he appeared on four episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" (CBS 1984-1996) in the '80s and '90s, not to mention having recurring roles on "Dynasty" (ABC 1981-89) and "Falcon Crest" (CBS 1981-1990). He also portrayed Henry Kissinger in the ABC movie "The Final Days" (1989), based on the book by Bob Woodward. As Bikel entered his mid-'70s, his acting career slowed down to occasional small roles in films ranging from the thrillers "Shattered" (1991) and "Benefit of the Doubt" (1993) to the post-Soviet comedy "My Family Treasure" (1993) and the inspirational drama "Second Chances" (1998). He appeared as a rabbi in the science fiction hit "Babylon 5" (syndicated 1994-98) and as a farmer in the procedural drama "JAG" (CBS 1995-2005). His final screen roles came in Menahem Golan's modern-day adaptation of "Crime and Punishment" (2002) and in the Israeli drama "The Little Traitor" (2007), starring Alfred Molina. Theodore Bikel died of undisclosed natural causes on July 21, 2015 in Los Angeles. He was 91 years old.

Highest rated movies

96% 86% The African Queen 95% 90% My Fair Lady
94% 83% I Want to Live!
92% 73% Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
90% 88% The Defiant Ones
86% 88% The Enemy Below
83% 75% The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!
80% 72% The Colditz Story

Filmography

Movies

Credit
92% 73% Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words Rance Muhammitz (Character) $353.8K 2016
No Score Yet No Score Yet Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem Screenwriter - 2014
41% 70% The Little Traitor Security Officer (Character) $401.5K 2007
No Score Yet 30% Crime and Punishment Captain Koch (Character) - 2002
No Score Yet 89% Babylon 5: In the Beginning Lenonn (Character) - 1998
7% 20% Shadow Conspiracy Prof. Yuri Pochenko (Character) $2.3M 1997
0% 24% Benefit of the Doubt Gideon Lee (Character) $73.3K 1993
No Score Yet No Score Yet My Family Treasure Grandpa Danieloff (Character) - 1993
No Score Yet No Score Yet Crisis in the Kremlin Leo (Character) - 1992
33% 60% Shattered Dr. Berkus (Character) $11.1M 1991
No Score Yet No Score Yet Memories of Midnight Georgius Lato (Character) - 1991
No Score Yet 83% The Final Days Henry Kissinger (Character) - 1989
No Score Yet No Score Yet Christine Cromwell: Things That Go Bump in the Night Horace (Character) - 1989
No Score Yet No Score Yet Lodz Ghetto Unknown (Voice) - 1988
No Score Yet No Score Yet The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels Unknown (Character) - 1988
No Score Yet 6% Dark Tower Max Gold (Character) - 1987
No Score Yet No Score Yet Very Close Quarters Victor (Character) - 1986
No Score Yet No Score Yet Prince Jack Georgi (Character) - 1984
67% 39% The Return of the King Aragorn (Voice) - 1980
100% 59% The Stingiest Man in Town Unknown (Voice) - 1978
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Curse of Rava/Con Caper Mandak (Character) - 1978
No Score Yet 56% Victory at Entebbe Yakov Shlomo (Character) - 1976
No Score Yet 31% Murder on Flight 502 Otto Gruenwaldt (Character) - 1975
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Little Ark The Captain (Character) - 1972
No Score Yet No Score Yet Killer by Night Sgt. Phl "Sharkey" Gold (Character) - 1971
50% 68% 200 Motels Rance Muhammitz/Dave (Character) - 1971
No Score Yet 50% Darker Than Amber Meyer (Character) - 1970
71% 55% My Side of the Mountain Bando (Character) - 1969
No Score Yet No Score Yet Sweet November Unknown (Character) - 1968
No Score Yet 64% Sweet November Alonzo (Character) - 1968
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Diary of Anne Frank Mr Van Daan (Character) - 1967
83% 75% The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! The Russian Captain (Character) - 1966
No Score Yet No Score Yet Noon Wine Unknown (Character) - 1966
No Score Yet 94% The Last Chapter Narrator - 1966
No Score Yet 62% Sands of the Kalahari Dr. Bondrachai (Character) - 1965
95% 90% My Fair Lady Zoltan Karpathy (Character) $447.6K 1964
No Score Yet No Score Yet Corridor 400 Ralph Traven (Character) - 1964
No Score Yet 69% A Dog of Flanders Piet van Gelder (Character) - 1959
No Score Yet 17% The Blue Angel Klepert (Character) - 1959
No Score Yet 33% The Angry Hills Dimitrios Tassos (Character) - 1959
No Score Yet 25% Woman Obsessed Dr. R. W. Gibbs (Character) - 1959
No Score Yet No Score Yet Fraulein Col. Dmitri Bucaron (Character) - 1958
90% 88% The Defiant Ones Sheriff Max Muller (Character) - 1958
94% 83% I Want to Live! Carl G.G. Palmberg (Character) - 1958
64% 49% I Bury the Living Andy McKee (Character) - 1958
86% 88% The Enemy Below "Heinie" Schwaffer (Character) - 1957
30% 25% The Pride and the Passion General Jouvet (Character) - 1957
No Score Yet 40% The Vintage Eduardo Uribari (Character) - 1957
No Score Yet No Score Yet Escape From the Iron Curtain Kosice (Character) - 1957
80% 72% The Colditz Story Vandy (Character) - 1955
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Divided Heart Josip Slavko (Character) - 1954
No Score Yet No Score Yet Forbidden Cargo Max (Character) - 1954
No Score Yet No Score Yet Chance Meeting Joseph (Character) - 1954
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Love Lottery Parsimonious (Character) - 1954
No Score Yet 91% The Little Kidnappers Dr. Willem Bloem (Character) - 1954
No Score Yet 62% Never Let Me Go Lieutenant (Character) - 1953
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Day to Remember Henri Dubot (Character) - 1953
96% 86% The African Queen First Officer (Character) - 1951

TV

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet JAG Unknown (Guest Star) 2003
88% No Score Yet Michael Hayes Unknown (Guest Star) 1997
No Score Yet No Score Yet Brooklyn South Unknown (Guest Star) 1997
43% No Score Yet The Burning Zone Unknown (Guest Star) 1996
No Score Yet 89% Murder, She Wrote Professor Harold Crenshaw (Guest Star) 1987 1989 1991 1994
No Score Yet 92% Babylon 5 Unknown (Guest Star) 1994
No Score Yet 83% Law & Order Unknown (Guest Star) 1994
92% 90% Star Trek: The Next Generation Sergey Rozhenko (Guest Star) 1990
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Equalizer Unknown (Guest Star) 1988
No Score Yet 86% Beauty and the Beast Eli (Guest Star) 1988
No Score Yet No Score Yet Super Password Guest 1988
No Score Yet No Score Yet Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer Unknown (Guest Star) 1987
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Fall Guy Unknown (Guest Star) 1985
No Score Yet No Score Yet Hotel Unknown (Guest Star) 1985
No Score Yet 80% Knight Rider Graham Deauville (Guest Star) 1983
No Score Yet No Score Yet Trapper John, M.D. Unknown (Guest Star) 1982
No Score Yet 89% All in the Family Unknown (Guest Star) 1978-1979
No Score Yet No Score Yet Fantasy Island Unknown (Guest Star) 1978
No Score Yet No Score Yet Police Woman Adamus Tarash (Guest Star) 1978
No Score Yet 81% Columbo Oliver Brandt (Guest Star) 1977
No Score Yet No Score Yet Testimony of Two Men Unknown (Character) 1977
No Score Yet No Score Yet Charlie's Angels Unknown (Guest Star) 1977
No Score Yet No Score Yet Little House on the Prairie Yuli Pyatakov (Guest Star) 1976
No Score Yet No Score Yet Mod Squad Max Kalatsis (Guest Star) 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet Cannon Mike Tampa (Guest Star) 1972
No Score Yet No Score Yet What's My Line? Guest 1969
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Trials of O'Brien Ben Moravian (Guest Star) 1965
No Score Yet No Score Yet Gunsmoke Martin Kellums (Guest Star) 1965
No Score Yet No Score Yet Rawhide Unknown (Guest Star) 1964
No Score Yet No Score Yet Combat! Unknown (Guest Star) 1964
No Score Yet No Score Yet East Side/West Side Unknown (Guest Star) 1963
No Score Yet No Score Yet Route 66 Dr. Anton Koseloff (Guest Star) 1962
No Score Yet No Score Yet Dr. Kildare Unknown (Guest Star) 1962
92% 96% The Twilight Zone Oliver Crangle (Character) 1962
No Score Yet No Score Yet Wagon Train Unknown (Guest Star) 1962
No Score Yet 87% Alfred Hitchcock Presents Sergeant Ottermole (Character) 1957
No Score Yet No Score Yet Climax! Unknown (Character) 1957
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Alcoa Hour Il vecchio (Character) 1956
No Score Yet No Score Yet The United States Steel Hour Fritz Gerhardy (Character) 1955