Profile Text
Date of Birth: 9 September, 1935
Place of Birth: Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine (now Israel)
Date of Death: 8 March, 2023
Place of Death: Tel Aviv, Israel
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
Chaim Topol was an Israeli actor, singer, comedian, voice artist, film producer, author, and illustrator. He was known for starring in the film adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof , and for his roles in the films I Like Mike , El Dorado (1963), Sallah Shabati , Cast a Giant Shadow , Ervinka , Every Bastard a King , Before Winter Comes , A Talent for Loving , Follow Me! , Galileo (1975), Flash Gordon (1980), the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only , and Left Luggage ; the made-for-tv movie The House on Garibaldi Street ; and the mini-series The Winds of War , Queenie , and War and Remembrance . He was also known as Haim Topol, Haym Topol, and Topol.
He was the son of Rella/Imrela/Rel (Goldman), a seamstress, and Yaacov/Jacob Topol, a plasterer. His parents were Polish Jews. They belonged to the Betar Zionist movement in Warsaw, and his father served in the Haganah paramilitary in Israel. He had roots in the Aleksander Hasidim and Gerrer Hasidim movements. Topol was raised in the Florentin neighborhood of Tel Aviv.
Topol was married to Galia Finkelstein, until his death, with whom he had three children, including actress Adi Topol. His granddaughter is actress Yali Topol Margalith, who is Adi’s daughter.
Chaim’s paternal grandfather was named Chaim Kossover-Topol (the son of Bezalel Topol and Ester). Chaim was a rabbi, from an Aleksander Hasidic family.
Chaim’s paternal grandmother was named Gitel Mishler (the daughter of Eliyahu Mishler and Ester). Gitel was from a Gerrer Hasidim family.
Chaim’s maternal grandfather was named Baruch Yosef Goldman.
Chaim’s maternal grandmother was Bluma Mendelbaum/Mandelsberg (the daughter of Chaim Mendelbaum/Mandelbaum and Bracha Ziberberg). Bracha was the daughter of Sender Ziberberg and Dyna Kuckier.
Sources: https://mishpacha.com
Genealogy of Chaim Topol – https://www.geni.com