If I were a rich man…

March 9, 2023 7:33 AM

“Would it spoil some vast eternal plan if I were a wealthy man?” Topol, the Israeli actor famous for starring as Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof, has died at 87.

The best part about Topol’s iconic performance in “Fiddler on the Roof” is not just his exuberant singing and dancing.

It comes at the very end of “If I were a rich man.” Tevye has just shouted to God, “Would it spoil some vast eternal plan if I were a wealthy man?” The music swells and it’s glorious!!!

And at that exact moment of triumph … he steps in a pile of cow shit.

That moment is the ultimate personification of the old Yiddish proverb, “Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht” (“Man plans, God laughs”).

Baruch Dayan emet, chaver. ❤️

posted by zooropa (75 comments total)

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posted by ovenmitt at 7:37 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by jquinby at 7:37 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by lalochezia at 7:37 AM on March 9, 2023

One of the all-time greats.
posted by humbug at 7:39 AM on March 9, 2023

Also played Dr Hans Zarkov in the mind-melting Flash Gordon movie in 1980. I love that movie.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:47 AM on March 9, 2023 [36 favorites]

I know Zero Mostel originated the role, but, for me, Topol IS Tevye. Fiddler is one of my absolute favorite films.

May his memory be a blessing to us all.
posted by briank at 7:51 AM on March 9, 2023 [9 favorites]

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Fiddler, sure. But The Public Eye. Having a macaroon for you today, Mr. Cristoforou.
posted by The Bellman at 7:53 AM on March 9, 2023

Dale Arden : What is this, a civic reception?
Flash Gordon : More like a police state.
Dr. Hans Zarkov : If it is, that could be our good luck.
Flash Gordon : Why?
Dr. Hans Zarkov : It means we'll find allies on every side. Look at them, the poor wretches are just waiting for someone to lead them in revolt.
Flash Gordon : Are you looking at me, Zarkov?
Dr. Hans Zarkov : Yes.
posted by Artw at 7:59 AM on March 9, 2023 [11 favorites]

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He was so good in Flash Gordon.

"My mind is all I have. I've spent my whole life trying to fill it"

On paper it's such a cheesy bit of dialog. But you watch the whole scene and his delivery and you realize how much emotion and meaning he's putting into it. Zarkov's mind is all that he had, and his memories were extremely important to him.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:02 AM on March 9, 2023 [11 favorites]

It's a movie full of apex scenery chewers, just incredible all around.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:05 AM on March 9, 2023 [6 favorites]

May his memory be a blessing.
posted by Gelatin at 8:09 AM on March 9, 2023 [6 favorites]

Zarkov's mind is all that he had, and his memories were extremely important to him.

The bit where he talks about how he held on to them is rather wonderful as well.
posted by Artw at 8:14 AM on March 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

Fiddler, sure. But The Public Eye. Having a macaroon for you today, Mr. Cristoforou.

Added to watch list.
posted by Artw at 8:15 AM on March 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

I saw his Tevye on a Fiddler tour at the National Theater in DC in 1988 or so. I was 9, way up in the balcony. I swear he made eye contact with me (and probably every other kid in the theater).
posted by HeroZero at 8:25 AM on March 9, 2023 [8 favorites]

I liked him as the roguish Greek smuggler in "For Your Eyes Only" -- "they took the ATAC to St Cyril's" squawk!
posted by chavenet at 8:34 AM on March 9, 2023 [17 favorites]

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posted by Harald74 at 8:38 AM on March 9, 2023

I liked him as the roguish Greek smuggler in "For Your Eyes Only"

[scatters a handful of pistachios on the floor in his memory]
posted by theory at 8:41 AM on March 9, 2023 [12 favorites]

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posted by grokus at 8:46 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 8:48 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by pangolin party at 8:48 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 9:00 AM on March 9, 2023

I saw him on stage in Fiddler in 2009, on a farewell tour after he'd played the role so many times. But he obviously gave his all every single night in a part that's emotionally wrenching every single night. He was much more frail than in the film, obviously, but he used that vulnerability to access the anxiety beneath Tevye's bluster. It was a magnificent show.
posted by rikschell at 9:07 AM on March 9, 2023 [14 favorites]

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posted by Archer25 at 9:11 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by valdesm at 9:20 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by mersen at 9:27 AM on March 9, 2023

Formerly of NASA.
posted by biffa at 9:29 AM on March 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

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posted by StrikeTheViol at 9:38 AM on March 9, 2023

The Fiddler movie was such a big part of my childhood. This feels like losing an uncle.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:42 AM on March 9, 2023 [9 favorites]

I think I saw a story once that Topol's passport's Occupation catagory read "Tevye."
posted by tspae at 9:43 AM on March 9, 2023 [8 favorites]

I'd never really put the Flash Gordon and For Your Eyes Only bits together with Fiddler. (All of which I love.) Thanks for that.
posted by Cyrano at 9:54 AM on March 9, 2023

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I'm shocked that he was only 87. I remember seeing, and really enjoying, Fiddler on the Roof as a kid in the 80s and I guess to my young eyes he looked pretty elderly already but looking now I see that he was only in his mid 30s. (I also realize that makeup exists to make actors look older than they really are.)
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 10:01 AM on March 9, 2023 [4 favorites]

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posted by dlugoczaj at 10:05 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by Silverstone at 10:10 AM on March 9, 2023

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I just saw the Lyric production of Fiddler. It was glorious. I can only imagine the excitement of seeing Topol on stage (I have seen the movie). As others have said, may his memory be a blessing.
posted by indianbadger1 at 10:18 AM on March 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 10:21 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by Samuel Farrow at 10:26 AM on March 9, 2023

The bit where he talks about how he held on to them is rather wonderful as well.

YES! That's one of my favorite moments in the movie. Without any foreshadowing or clue that the conditioning hadn't been effective, Zarkov just gets better. A lesser movie would've made the character suffer and slowly allowed him to regain agency while enduring lots of angst and pain, but in this movie Zarkov just waits for a convenient moment and shrugs it all of as a pretense. And Topol really makes what would otherwise be considered a plot hole work with just the right amount of of-course-they-failed-I'm-too-strong enthusiasm.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 10:26 AM on March 9, 2023 [4 favorites]

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posted by Spike Glee at 10:28 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by Windopaene at 10:34 AM on March 9, 2023

Just caught "For Your Eyes Only" on cable a few days ago - and was, as always, utterly charmed by his character. Thanks for the wonderful performances, Topol!
posted by davidmsc at 10:59 AM on March 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

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posted by MrBobaFett at 11:06 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by socialjusticeworrier at 11:21 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by Tailkinker to-Ennien at 11:59 AM on March 9, 2023

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posted by doctornemo at 12:07 PM on March 9, 2023

I read that for the film, Norman Jewison did not want Zero Mostel's comic interpretation of the role, he preferred a more serious, soulful performance. Bingo. (Mostel was allegedly devastated.)

I remember seeing a documentary about the original Broadway production and how popular it was; the story was so universal. Apparently Japanese people went up to the cast and said "I love this show, it is so Japanese!"

❤️
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posted by Melismata at 12:13 PM on March 9, 2023 [5 favorites]

Loved so much of his work, but the thing that always just slays me is the wistfulness of "Little bird...little Chavala...I don't understand what's happening today..."

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Baruch dayan emet.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:16 PM on March 9, 2023 [11 favorites]

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posted by Splunge at 12:53 PM on March 9, 2023

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posted by riverlife at 1:24 PM on March 9, 2023

Swiftly fly the years. . .
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:39 PM on March 9, 2023 [5 favorites]

He's up there with Max von Sydow now, chewing scenery together with the angels.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:00 PM on March 9, 2023 [7 favorites]

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posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 2:21 PM on March 9, 2023

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posted by ocschwar at 2:56 PM on March 9, 2023

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posted by Faintdreams at 3:35 PM on March 9, 2023

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posted by kram175 at 3:37 PM on March 9, 2023

Did Topol chew scenery? Maybe so, but I never saw it - just thought he was lustrous &
so incredibly confident in his skin as Tevye. He was definitely theatrical but it filled the role, and never inflated the actor?
posted by Jody Tresidder at 4:19 PM on March 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

RIP. The man had lungs.

Silly side note: I was a kid in the '70s when the singular name "Topol" meant the famous singer from Fiddler on the Roof. But in the same era, they had ads on TV for toothpaste marketed as "Topol: The Smoker's Tooth Polish" and I always thought the man was somehow related to toothpaste for people who smoked. But he wasn't in the ads! It was confusing to young me.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:48 PM on March 9, 2023 [9 favorites]

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posted by dannyboybell at 5:05 PM on March 9, 2023

Sad to hear this news. I, sad to say, have never seen Fiddler. But Flash Gordon is one of my all-time favorites. He really did wonders with the material he was given. I loved the scene when he was trying to convince his assistant to get into the rocket, he had such great mad scientist vibes. Then it turned out, he wasn't mad at all, just way ahead of everybody else.

It boggled my mind when IMDB became a thing and I wanted to see his other work and realized he was a legend for Fiddler.

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posted by jzb at 5:17 PM on March 9, 2023

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posted by Barbara Spitzer at 5:38 PM on March 9, 2023

Such a huge talent.

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posted by theora55 at 5:41 PM on March 9, 2023

Fiddler was such a huge part of my childhood. Tevye and his family felt like neighbors.
posted by EvaDestruction at 6:07 PM on March 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

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posted by bryon at 6:30 PM on March 9, 2023

I read that for the film, Norman Jewison did not want Zero Mostel's comic interpretation of the role, he preferred a more serious, soulful performance.

Having watched both, I think they're both great in different ways. But Topol's Tevye, with his gravitas and earthiness, is closer to the spirit of the older Yiddish film Tevya (there's a scene from it here).

May his memory be a blessing.

(The MeFi dot always reminds me of a pebble laid on a grave)

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posted by Pallas Athena at 8:27 PM on March 9, 2023 [5 favorites]

Here's a clip of Topol decidedly not acting as Tevyeh.
posted by ocschwar at 8:32 PM on March 9, 2023

From the movie Arvin
posted by ocschwar at 8:35 PM on March 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

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posted by evilDoug at 9:55 PM on March 9, 2023

Here’s the scene from Flash Gordon where Zarkov (Topol) is describing how he beat the mind wipe. Cheesy movie, for sure, but you can’t help but love his exuberance!

YouTube link

“Do you know why it failed? As I was going under, I started to recite Shakespeare, the Talmud, the formulas of Einstein, anything I could remember. Even a song from The Beatles. It armored me, girl. They couldn't wipe those things away! You can't beat the human spirit!”
posted by zooropa at 11:05 PM on March 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

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posted by gudrun at 9:06 PM on March 10, 2023

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posted by Sheydem-tants at 3:56 AM on March 11, 2023

My favorite part of "If I Were a Rich Man" is this verse:

If I were rich, I'd have the time that I lack to sit in the synagogue and pray
And maybe have a seat by the Eastern wall
And I'd discuss the holy books with the learned men, several hours every day
And that would be the sweetest thing of all

Topol's delivery on this is just so good. The transition from fun and flashy and bombastic to humble and hopeful is magnificent. What a blessing to have had him be Tevye.
posted by The Adventure Begins at 9:45 AM on March 14, 2023 [2 favorites]