'Fiddler' star Topol dies at 87

(JTA) - Chaim Topol won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of an immigrant to Israel, stepped off the stage in London to fight for his country and had his sketches of Israeli presidents turned into postage stamps.

But the actor was, by far, best known for his embodiment of Tevye the Dairyman in "Fiddler on the Roof," first in the Israeli and London stagings and then in the 1971 movie that brought the musical about poor shtetl Jews to the masses.

Topol died March 9 in Tel Aviv at 87, a day after his family announced that he was near death. He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for some time.

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