Theodore Bikel

Theodore Meir Bikel ( born May 2, 1924 in Vienna, Austria ) is a folk singer and actor. Bikels career began in 1951 with a supporting role in the classic film The African Queen. He joined in 1960 at the " Newport Folk Festival". In 1977 he was inducted into the National Council for the Arts. Born in Austria, he lived in Israel, England and the U.S. and speaks six languages. Bikel was Vice President of the American Jewish Congress.

Life

Theodore Bikel was forced to flee to Palestine, where they were British citizens because of his Jewish heritage with his father Joseph and his mother Miriam ( née Riegler ) 1938 after the "Anschluss " of Austria by Nazi Germany. Bikel wanted to study languages ​​and teachers and earned the financing for it by working on a communal farm. However, he always felt drawn to the theater and walked about the farm in 1943 to study in Tel Aviv at the Habima Theatre. Later formed Bikel and four other actors, the Tel Aviv Chamber Theater. In 1946 he left Palestine to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In England he developed a serious interest in folk music and playing the guitar. 1947 Sir Laurence Olivier became aware of Bikels acting qualities, which earned him a role in the London production of A Streetcar Named Desire (A Streetcar Named Desire ).

In the early 1950s, Bikel began to play in British and American films Russian officers and German sailors. His career began with a supporting role as a German naval officer in John Huston's classic film The African Queen ( 1951). In 1955 he moved to New York, the beginning of his career in folk music. Mid-1950s, he received a contract from Elektra Records and recorded 1955 Yiddish, Hebrew and Russian folk songs. He was with Pete Seeger co-founder of the Newport Folk Festival in 1960 and went there myself on. Bikels repertoire included songs from Russia, Eastern Europe and Israel. He had in the U.S. hundreds of performances, from Rainbow & Stars in New York to the Boarding House in San Francisco, toured the world and performed in New Zealand and all over Europe.

Theodore Bikel led all these years continued his double career in film and Folk Music. He received film roles in The Russians Are Coming! The Russians are coming! (1966 ), Second Luck (1989) and The Shadow Conspiracy (1997). In 1967 he took on Songs of the Earth, A New Day for Reprise (1970 ) and A Taste of Passover (1998). Bikel played for the record company Elektra Records, Columbia Records, Reprise Records and Rounder Records. In 1963 he was cast in the film Goldfinger for the role of Auric Goldfinger in the James Bond, but ultimately received Gert Froebe the role.

Bikel played all sorts of villains; he gave the characters depth, character, and sometimes sympathetic properties. He played the Serbian king in Moulin Rouge (1952) and a German submarine officer in a duel in the Atlantic (1957). For his role in Stanley Kramer's The Defiant Ones ( 1958), he was nominated for an Oscar.

On stage, Bikel played for example in the original Broadway cast of The Sound of Music next to Mary Martin. Other roles he had in Tonight in Samarkand, The Lark and The Rope Dancers.

Theodore Bikel is a master of languages, dialects and accents: He speaks six languages ​​, singing folk songs in nearly 20 languages ​​as accompaniment on the guitar, mandolin, balalaika and harmonica. He appeared regularly on the 1960s folk music TV show Hootenanny.

Even in the political field Bikel was active. 1977 President Jimmy Carter took Bikel on to the National Council for the Arts, a position he retained until 1982. He was president of Actors' Equity Association and is still president of the Associated Actors and Artistes of America, further he became involved with Americans for the Arts and the American Jewish Congress, the Vice President he was.

In 1995 he published his autobiography, Theo, an expanded new edition followed in 2002.

Filmography

Interview

• "In the Mariahilferstraße we had neighbors who were very nice and decent people ." In: Christian Cargnelli and Michael Omasta (ed.): departure into the unknown. Austrian filmmakers in exile. Before 1945 wasp nest, Vienna 1993 ( Volume 1 ), pp. 163-173.

Awards and honors

• 2009 Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class (15 November )