Theodore Bikel Dead at Age 91: Film & Theater Legend Dies of Natural Causes

One of film and theater's legends, Theodore Bikel, passed away from natural causes this week at the age of 91 years old. Bikel had been in the film business for decades and was probably most notable for and his theater roles in The Sound of Music and Fiddler on the Roof. In fact, one of his first roles ever was opposite Vivian Lee in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire in the 1940s, which was not long after he graduated from the London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. However, he made his Broadway debut in Tonight in Samarkind.

Born in Vienna, Austria, "He spent much of his youth in Palestine and was fiercely devoted to supporting Jewish causes, as well as the Democratic Party and human rights groups. He was one of six leaders of the American Jewish Congress arrested while protesting in 1986 outside the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C. over that government's restrictions on letting Jews leave the country," Yahoo! News reports. Bikel later became a United States citizen back in 1961, but decided he preferred to reside in England. He was even more torn about whether or not to return to his homeland when Israel named its statehood.

Bikel has won a number of Tony Awards for his performances and was nominated for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Academy Award for The Defiant Ones back in 1958. In addition to acting and performing on stage, Bikel debuted as a folk musican at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1956 and IMDb describes him as "one of the most versatile and respected actors and performers of his generation. A master of languages, dialects and accents, he has played every sort of film villain and semi-bad guy imaginable, and always adds depth, dimension and even sympathy to characters."

Bikel's accomplishments were innumerable and he will be surely missed by all that he did. He is survived by his wife, Aimee Ginsburg; sons Rob, Danny Bikel and stepsons Zeev and Noam Ginsburg and three grandchildren.