Theodore Bikel

about

Theodore Meir Bikel (May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, and composer. In the 1950s, Bikel produced several albums of Jewish folk songs, as well as Songs of a Russian Gypsy, in 1958. He was a co-founder of the Newport Folk Festival (together with Pete Seeger, Oscar Brand, and George Wein) in 1959. In 1962, Bikel became the first singer besides Dylan to perform "Blowin' in the Wind" in public. Bikel (with business partner Herb Cohen) opened the first folk music coffeehouse in Los Angeles, The Unicorn. Its popularity led to the two opening a second club, Cosmo Alley, which in addition to folk music presented poets such as Maya Angelou and comics including Lenny Bruce. Bikel became increasingly involved with civil rights issues and progressive causes, and was a delegate to the 1968 Democratic Convention. He made his film debut in The African Queen (1951) and was nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting role as Sheriff Max Muller in The Defiant Ones (1958). Theodore Bikel was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Miriam (née Riegler) and Josef Bikel from Bukovina. As an active Zionist, his father named him after Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism. Following the German union with Austria in 1938, Bikel's family fled to Mandatory Palestine, where his father's contacts helped the family obtain British passports. Bikel studied at the Mikve Yisrael agricultural school and joined Kibbutz Kfar HaMaccabi. Bikel started

top songs

albums

In My Own Lifetime: 12 Musical Theater Classics

Songs Of Russia Old & New / Russian Gypsy

Theodore Bikel's Treasury of Yiddish Folk and Theatre Songs

Sings Yiddish Theatre & Folk Songs

Sings Jewish Folk Songs

Classic Jewish Holiday & Shabbat Songs

Songs Of A Russian Gypsy

A Folksinger's Choice

Theodore Bikel Sings More Jewish Folk Songs

Jewish Folk Favorites

From Bondage to Freedom

Young Man And A Maid

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