Zero Mostel and
Chaim Topol are the two actors most associated with the role of Tevye, although
Theodore Bikel performed it many times on stage. For the film version of
Fiddler on the Roof, the part ultimately went to Topol, as producer-director
Norman Jewison felt that Mostel's portrayal was too unnecessarily comic. Topol was nominated for an
Academy Award for his performance in the film version of
Fiddler. He also portrayed the character nearly 3,500 times on stage, retiring the role in 2009. Other noteworthy musical Tevyes have included
Luther Adler,
Herschel Bernardi,
Paul Lipson (original Broadway run, over 2,000 performances),
Leonard Nimoy (1971 touring company),
Shmuel Rodensky (original Israeli, Yiddish and German productions),
Alfred Molina and
Harvey Fierstein (2004 Broadway revival),
Henry Goodman (2007 London revival),
Danny Burstein (2015 Broadway revival),
Yehezkel Lazarov (2018 touring company),
Humberto de Vargas (2017–2018 Uruguay production), and
Steven Skybell (2018 Off-Broadway revival in Yiddish).
Paul Michael Glaser, who played Perchik in the 1971 film version, played Tevye in a 2013–14 touring production in the United Kingdom.
Tevya is the name of a 1939 film adaptation of the story, performed entirely in Yiddish. In this adaptation, Tevye, played by
Maurice Schwartz, is portrayed as gruff with flashes of wit and humor. Prior to the 1964 Broadway debut of
Fiddler on the Roof, adaptations of the Tevye stories appeared on stage and screen, in America and beyond. The earliest screen version was an American silent film called
Broken Barriers, based on Aleichem's own theatrical treatment and released in 1919 (just a few years after Aleichem died). In 1962,
Gerhard Klingenberg directed the television film
Tevya und seine Töchter. After
Fiddler on the Roof became a Broadway sensation, an Israeli film called
Tuvia Vesheva Benotav (
Tevye and His Seven Daughters) starring
Shmuel Rodensky was released in 1968, as well as two Russian versions:
Teve-molochnik (
Tevye the Milkman) in 1985 and
Myr vashomu domu! (''Tevye's Daughters'') in 2017. In 2018, Jerusalem Ballet published a ballet adaptation based on both
Tevye the Dairyman and
Fiddler on the Roof, by Russian
ballet dancer-
choreographer Igor Menshikov. Tevye has been portrayed by Israeli ballet dancer Meitar Basson. ==Films==