Theodor Mier Bickel is an Austrian-American actor of theater, cinema, television. Musician, singer, composer, politician. Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actor in the 1958 crime drama Chained Up.
The artist's creative biography includes more than 150 roles in television and film projects. Film critics have repeatedly noted that Bickel was one of the most versatile and respected actors of his time. He was fluent in several European and Eastern languages, was a member of the international organization MENSA, which unites people with the highest IQ.
As a musician and singer, Theodore gave preference to folk music and folk songs. He performed them in 20 languages and accompanied himself on guitar, harmonica, balalaika and mandolin. In 1958, Bickel released a disc with the folk song "Songs of a Russian Gypsy". The album, recorded at Elektra Records, remained at its peak for 2 years.
He often played villains and negative characters, but always tried to reveal the image so deeply that in the end the audience was imbued with sympathy for his antiheroes.
In the spring of 2005, the performer's personal star was unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at number 6233.
short biography
Theodore was born in Austria in the spring of 1924 to the Jewish family of Mariam Gisella Riegler and Joseph Bickel-Hasenfranz, who were immigrants from Bukovina, located in Central Europe.
For many years, the boy's father was a member of an organization and a nationalist movement that advocates the restoration of the Jewish state and fights for the rights of the Jewish people. When a son was born in the family, he named him Theodor in honor of the founder of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl.
In 1938, Austria was annexed to Germany, the family was forced to leave for Palestine, where friends helped them get foreign passports.
Theodore was educated at Mikve Yisrae School. And then he joined kibbutz Kfar Hamachabi - a Jewish community where people were mainly engaged in agriculture.
Creativity entered the boy's life as a teenager. He began performing early at the Habima Theater in Palestine, where performances were performed in Yiddish. Since 1958, the site has become the national theater of Israel and continues to operate at the present time.
In 1943, Bickel became one of the organizers of the Israeli Cameri Theater. Most of the actors working in the theater were educated in the USSR, and many studied under Stanislavsky himself. Theodore himself later said more than once that he had gained invaluable experience while working in Cameri.
In 1945, Theodore went to England to pursue acting studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
During the Arab-Israeli War that began in 1948, Bickel chose not to return to Israel. In his autobiographical book, he wrote that many of his relatives and friends believed that he simply did not have enough character, and some regarded his act as desertion. He himself never justified his actions, but many times in his thoughts he returned to that time and thought about whether he did the right thing by remaining in England. Perhaps he never forgave himself.
Bickel moved to America in 1954, and after 7 years he received the citizenship of the United States.
Creative way
In 1948, Theodore began performing on the stage of London theaters. M. Redgrave recommended L. Olivier to take him into the troupe as an understudy for the play "A Streetcar Named Desire", based on the play by T. Wilms. The artist also got the opportunity to play a small role in the play.
Once the leading performer of the troupe caught a cold and fell ill just before the performance. Theodore approached actress Vivien Leigh with a proposal to rehearse with him so that he could replace the sick actor if she decided that he was suitable for the role. Then Lee replied to Theodore that she considered him a professional, and if that were not the case, Lawrence would never have taken him to his theater. On the same evening, Bickel went on stage and performed the role brilliantly. After the performance, Vivienne came up to him and said that he is a really wonderful actor.
Bickel has twice become a Broadway's Tony Award nominee. The first time in 1958 in the category "Best Supporting Actor in a Drama", and the second time in 1960 in the category "Best Supporting Actor in a Musical."
In 2010, the actor was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance in a Performance Based on the Works of Sholem Aleichem.
Bickel was fluent in several languages and became known for his ability to play characters from different nationalities. His career includes the roles of an Armenian merchant, a Polish professor, an Italian mafioso, a German officer, and a Hungarian linguist. He played a Russian villain in Star Trek: The Next Generation and a Bulgarian villain in the television series Falcon Cross.
Theodore came to the cinema in 1948. In his career, roles in popular films and series: "Kraft Television Theater", "African Queen", "Moulin Rouge", "Don't Let Me Go", "Climax", "Barrel Smoke", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Under our enemy”,“Shackled by one chain”,“Rawhide whip”,“Dog from Flanders”,“The Twilight Zone”,“My Fair Lady”,“Sweet November”,“Colombo”,“Little House on the Prairie”,“Island Fantasy”,“Stuntmen”,“Knight Rider”,“Hotel”,“Detective Mike Hammer”. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Shattered, Midnight Memories, Babylon 5, The Pretender, Crime and Punishment.
A professional musician, singer and composer, Bickel began recording for Elektra Records in 1955. He has released several albums with Jewish and Russian folk songs.
In 1959, he co-founded the Newport Folk Festival with renowned musician Pete Seeger.
In 1964, Theodore opened the first coffee shop in Los Angeles, where only folk music sounded. The popularity of the institution was so high that soon the "Cosmo Alley" club was opened, where singers, musicians and poets could perform.
Personal life
Theodore has been married 4 times. The first wife in 1955 was the Israeli actress Ofra Ichilova. They divorced after 2 years.
In 1967, Bickel married Rita Weinberg. They lived together until 2008. In this union, two sons were born: Robert Simon and Daniel.
The third chosen one in November 2008 was Tamara Brooks. In May 2012, his wife died, and Theodore became a widower.
In December 2013, the artist married again. His fourth wife was the journalist Amy Ginsburg, with whom Theodore lived until the end of his days.
Bickel passed away in the summer of 2015 at the age of 91. He was buried in Culver City at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.
