Saturday, March 26, 2011

Some trivia for FOTR fans

I have loved Fiddler on the Roof forever, but I'd never really done much reading up on the cast (except for Paul Michael Glaser, who played Starsky in a later incarnation. He was an early crush, but I digress). We recently acquired a DVD of FOTR, and of course with DVDs come Special Features. While watching the movie with the 'commentary' turned on (featuring star Topol, who played Tevye, and director Norman Jewison), I made an interesting discovery about Topol's age. Guess what it was when he played the iconic "Papa." Go on, guess.
(DOH readers who know the answer, don't spoil it for the other two!)

When I was a little kid, I thought, "Yah, that guy must be about 70." But as I got older, Tevye got younger. At one point, I thought he must be 50ish. Now that I'm nearing that age myself, I'm thinking, "OK, he could be 45."

Guess, dear reader(s).

You won't, so I'll tell you.
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He was 35. Yes, Thirty. Five. They no doubt coloured his beard and hair, but as for his eyebrows, the makeup artists plucked greying hairs from Norman Jewison's beard and inserted them into Topol's eyebrows. They also put fake skin under his eyes to make them look wrinkly and baggy. I just thought you'd all want to know that. Amazing actor.

And now, enjoy:
(I don't get the subtitle thing: I guess it's for folks who want to sing along... All day long, I'd biddy biddy bum... But it loses some of the spontaneous charm, wouldn't you say?)

4 comments:

  1. It would be interesting to know if Gurinder Chadha or Paul Mayeda Berges had the lines "I'd build a big long staircase just going up and one even longer coming down, and one more going no place just for show" in mind when they wrote that joke about the three swimming pools in Bride and Prejudice.

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  2. This has been one of my favourite movies ever since I was little. Gotta say I never knew that bit of trivia. Thanks!

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  3. I was surprised Topol is still alive - that's how old I thought he was. What a brilliant performance.

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