Theodore Meir Bikel (born May 2, 1924) is an Academy Award- and Tony Award-nominated character actor, folk singer and musician. He made his film debut in The African Queen (1951) and was nominated for an Academy award for his role as the Southern Sheriff in The Defiant Ones (1958).
Bikel was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Miriam (née Riegler) and Josef Bikel. His family fled to Palestine following the Nazi occupation of Austria. In Palestine...
more
Theodore Meir Bikel (born May 2, 1924) is an Academy Award- and Tony Award-nominated character actor, folk singer and musician. He made his film debut in The African Queen (1951) and was nominated for an Academy award for his role as the Southern Sheriff in The Defiant Ones (1958).
Bikel was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Miriam (née Riegler) and Josef Bikel. His family fled to Palestine following the Nazi occupation of Austria. In Palestine, Bikel started acting while in his teens. He co-founded the Cameri Theatre there—which has gone on to become one of Israel's biggest theaters—before moving to London to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1945. In 1948, Michael Redgrave recommended Bikel to his friend Laurence Olivier as understudy for the parts of both Stanley Kowalski and Mitch in the West End premiere of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. Bikel graduated from understudy to star opposite the director's wife, Vivien Leigh, who would go on to recreate her...
less
