{"id":40335,"date":"2015-01-23T01:09:40","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T01:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owegopennysaver.com\/?p=40335"},"modified":"2015-01-26T01:13:58","modified_gmt":"2015-01-26T01:13:58","slug":"tinseltown-talks-theodore-bikel-still-entertaining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/23\/tinseltown-talks-theodore-bikel-still-entertaining\/","title":{"rendered":"Tinseltown Talks – Theodore Bikel Still Entertaining"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tinseltown<\/a>

Publicity still from The African Queen. Pictured is Bikel, left, with Bogart in the foreground.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Tinseltown<\/a>

Publicity still of Bikel, left, and Alan Arkin from The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!<\/p><\/div>\n

Growing up in Austria, young Theo Bikel dreamt of performing. He would achieve that goal, and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was 19 when I first performed professionally on stage, and now I\u2019m 90,\u201d said Bikel from Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

But that long career might never have happened, had his family not fled their homeland in 1938.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when the Germans took over, and Austria became a strange, alien, and solemn country,\u201d said Bikel, who recalled being beaten up at school and chased through parks. \u201cWe went from consulate to consulate and embassy to embassy to find a country that would take us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before fleeing to Palestine, 13-year-old Bikel glimpsed the face behind those dark days.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lived on a wide thoroughfare and saw the military march through with tanks,\u201d he recalled. \u201cOne of the vehicles was an open limousine with Hitler riding in it, as it passed right by our home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bikel moved to London in 1945, and the U.S. a decade later, becoming a successful actor, folk singer, author, and lecturer, but never forgot the childhood horror.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly influenced much of my life and my dedication to human and civil rights,\u201d he said. \u201cI cannot bear to see injustice of any kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bikel\u2019s greatest professional stage success came in 1967 as Tevye, the milkman in \u201cFiddler on the Roof,\u201d a character he portrayed for four decades in over 2,000 performances across North America.<\/p>\n

\"Tinseltown<\/a>

Bikel’s book Theo An Autobiography. Provided by Bikel.<\/p><\/div>\n

By then, his film career was also well underway, having begun in 1951 with his first screen appearance in \u201cThe African Queen\u201d with Humphrey Bogart.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my scenes were filmed on a London studio back lot,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI would see (Bogart) sitting in the make-up chair in the morning mumbling lines to himself. Then, half an hour later, he was on the set giving a perfect full-blown performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bikel attended the 1959 Academy Awards after he and three other cast members were nominated for performances in \u201cThe Defiant Ones.\u201d Was there anything memorable about the ceremony?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d he replied, \u201cI didn\u2019t win!\u201d<\/p>\n

Another choice role came in 1964 when Bikel was cast as Hungarian phonetician Zoltan Karpathy in \u201cMy Fair Lady.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe director wanted someone with an impeccable accent and a lot of hair, so I qualified,\u201d said Bikel. \u201cI had to dance with Audrey Hepburn, so I insisted they give me ballroom dancing lessons \u2013 I wasn\u2019t going to tread on her toes!\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, Bikel is making limited trips around the country to talk about his documentary on Yiddish author and playwright Sholom Aleichem (see www.bikel.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cTheo: An Autobiography\u201d was also updated and re-released last summer, detailing Bikel\u2019s life and professional career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at myself from the inside and see what I learned from my life,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe I can teach others from my experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, Ala., and has written features, columns, and interviews for over 500 magazines and newspapers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growing up in Austria, young Theo Bikel dreamt of performing. He would achieve that goal, and more. \u201cI was 19 when I first performed professionally…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nTinseltown Talks - Theodore Bikel Still Entertaining - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/23\/tinseltown-talks-theodore-bikel-still-entertaining\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tinseltown Talks - Theodore Bikel Still Entertaining - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Growing up in Austria, young Theo Bikel dreamt of performing. 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