Fiddler on the Roof actor Chaim Topol has died aged 87.
Israeli actor best known for his role as Tevye in the 1971 musical.
His death was confirmed in a Twitter post by Israeli president Isaac Herzog on Wednesday, in which he said Topol was “one of the giants of Israeli culture”.
The president described Topol as “a talented actor who has conquered many stages in Israel and abroad, filled cinemas with his presence and, above all, penetrated into our hearts” .
The Oscar-nominated actor was diagnosed with dementia last year.
Born in 1935, he grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Tel Aviv.
Topol’s career took off after starring in the 1964 Israeli comedy Sallah Shabati, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising New Actor.
He received his second Golden Globe in 1971 for best actor for his role in Fiddler on the Roof.
He was also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor when he starred in the Broadway revival of the musical in 1991. He played the milkman Tevye more than 3,500 times both on stage and screen from the late 1960s until 2009.
Topol starred in several Israeli and American films, including the 1975 adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s Galileo and the 1980 science fiction film Flash Gordon.
He was awarded the Israel Prize – the country’s most prestigious award – in 2015 for lifetime achievement and exceptional contribution to society and the state.
Topol is survived by his wife Galia, whom he married in 1965, and their children, daughters Anat and Ady and son Omer.
