Known worldwide by his last name alone, Chaim Topol, star of Fiddler on the Roof, has died. He was 87 years old.

In swiftly released statement befitting Topol’s stature, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog described him as a “gifted actor who conquered many stages in Israel and overseas, filled the cinema screens with his presence and especially entered deep into our hearts”.

Topol played the role of the long-suffering milkman Tevye in cities across the world and did so more than 3,500 times over five decades. He played the role in Australia several times, first in 1998 and most recently in 2006.

Chaim ben Yaakov Topol was born in Tel Aviv in 1935 and discovered his knack for singing and acting while serving in the army in an entertainment troupe. It was there the young Chaim met satirist-writer Ephraim Kishon, who would later direct Topol in the film that gained him international recognition – 1964’s Sallah Shabati, the first Israeli film to be nominated for best foreign film at the Academy Awards. Topol made his English-language film debut in the Kirk Douglas-led production Cast a Giant Shadow.

Chaim Topol in 1964’s Sallah Shabati

Topol...