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Israeli actor Chaim Topol, known for his iconic role of Tevye in the film "Fiddler on the Roof," has died at the age of 87. A cause of death was not revealed, however his son told the Israeli press last year that his father was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.  Raised in Tel Aviv and revered as a top actor in his native land, Topol appeared in over 30 movies across Israel and the United States.

Carmel Dagan Chaim Topol, who became professionally known solely by his last name in a career that included starring in “Fiddler on the Roof” on stage and screen and co-starring in the James Bond movie “For Your Eyes Only” and the sci-fi film “Flash Gordon,” died Thursday in Tel Aviv after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 87 years old.Topol’s death was confirmed by Israel’s president Isaac Herzog, who described him as a “gifted actor who conquered many stages in Israel and overseas, filled the cinema screens with his presence and especially entered deep into our hearts.” Topol began his long association with the starring role of Tevye the milkman in the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” in 1967, appearing in the West End production, which ran for 2,030 performances. He starred in Norman Jewison’s 1971 film version, which carried a budget estimated at $9 million and garnered a domestic gross of $80 million. The movie was nominated for eight Oscars, including best picture and best actor for Topol. It won for cinematography, sound and music.

Chaim Topol, an Israeli actor best known for his role as Tevye in the film version of Fiddler on the Roof, died Thursday at age 87 in Tel Aviv after a multi-year battle with Alzheimer’s.

Chaim Topol has sadly passed away at the age of 87.

saying in a statement that Topol was a “gifted actor who conquered many stages in Israel and overseas, filled the cinema screens with his presence and especially entered deep into our hearts.”Though Topal was best known for “Fiddler,” over his decades-long career he also starred in a range of films that have become recognized as classics. Among them, he portrayed mad scientist Hans Zarkov in director Mike Hodges’ “Flash Gordon” (1980), and the smuggler-turned-hero Milos Columbo in the 1981 James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only.”Topal was born in Tel Aviv, then part of British Mandate Palestine, in 1935.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian star author Robert Saviano, whose mob exposé “Gomorrah” spawned both Matteo Garrone’s eponymous prizewinning movie and the groundbreaking crime series that plays stateside on HBO, is making his directorial debut. Saviano will direct “I’m Still Alive,” an animation adaptation of his graphic novel illustrated by Israeli artist Asaf Hanuka (“Waltz With Bashir”). “Still Alive” examines the anti-mob activist’s life under armed guard since being forced to live with police protection shortly after 2006 when Saviano’s account of the inner workings of the Neapolitan Camorra crime syndicate was published. Just like Saviano’s graphic novel, “I’m Still Alive” will feature illustration’s by Hanuka, an Eisner-winning cartoonist who is known, besides “Bashir,” for his autobiographical strips “The Realist” and for graphic novel “The Divine.”

Malina Saval Associate Editor, Features With “Fleishman is in Trouble,” Taffy Brodesser-Akner has sparked a wave of nostalgia for viewers who, like the FX limited series’ three main characters, Toby, Libby and Seth, met during a study abroad program in Israel. Whether it was Hebrew U. in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv U.—or Bar Ilan U., where Brodesser-Akner spent her junior year of college— the TV adaption of the best-selling novel is not only an excavation of divorce and parenthood in the modern age, but a vessel through which fans of the show can relive one of the most impressionable periods of their early twenties, that period during which they left America, nurtured their Jewish identity in a foreign country and forged relationships that stretched into their adulthoods. 

anti-Semitic neo-Nazi protesters targeted the musical “Parade,” Mayor Eric Adams took the stage before Thursday night’s performance to declare the theater “is not a place where hate lives.”“We have the largest Jewish population outside of Tel Aviv,” Adams said as he addressed the audience at Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.“And when you come out and really cross-pollinate with ideas and culture, that’s the beauty and that’s the symbol of New York City.”He continued: “When we fill a theater, we send a message out there that this is not a place where hate lives.”The Tony-winning “Parade” stars “Dear Evan Hansen” actor Ben Platt, 29, and Micaela Diamond, 23, of “The Cher Show.” Both are Jewish-Americans.A post shared by Parade on Broadway (@paradebway)Set in 1913, the Broadway musical is inspired by Jewish factory boss Leo Frank, who was wrongfully convicted of raping and murdering 13-year-old employee Mary Phagan.After his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, Frank was kidnapped from his cell and lynched by an anti-Semitic mob.Following Frank’s murder, evidence from the case pointed to Jim Conley, the factory’s janitor, as the actual killer.

Two days after about a dozen neo-Nazis harrassed ticketholders and ticketbuyers outside the Broadway venue where Parade had begun previews, New York Mayor Eric Adams addressed an audience at the musical last night, saying, “When we fill a theater, we send a message out there that this is not a place where hate lives.”

Naman Ramachandran The Backstreet Boys, who have a massive fan base in India, will be returning to the country after 13 years for two concerts. The band’s world tour began after the release of chart topping 2019 album “DNA,” featuring the hit “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” BookMyShow and Live Nation are bringing the tour to India. The band will play at Jio World Gardens, Mumbai on May 4 and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi on May 5. Prior to that the Backstreet Boys have performances lined up in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland, Hong Kong, Reykjavik and Cairo. After India, the tour carries on in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Jeddah, Tel Aviv, Cape Town and Pretoria.

Guns N’ Roses sponsored the NASCAR team at the Daytona 500 over the weekend.The band backed Erik Jones and the No. 43 car in the event on Sunday (February 19).But his car, which featured the band’s artwork, was involved in a multi-car crash on lap 82 and he was unable to finish the race.Reacting to the crash Axl Rose wrote on Twitter: “The race was exciting.

Guns N’ Roses have announced full details of their 2023 world tour – see the full list of gigs below and buy tickets here.Having already announced a huge London gig in Hyde Park for late June, the band will now tour Europe through June and July before heading to North America in August for a tour that spans three months.The tour begins in Israel on June 5 at Tel Aviv’s Park Hayarkon before gigs in Madrid, Copenhagen, Oslo and more.A second UK date in addition to the London show will come at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park on June 27.The North American leg of the tour then begins in Hershey, Pennsylvania on August 11 and runs until mid-October when it wraps up in Vancouver, Canada.Tickets for the tour go on sale on Friday, February 24 at 10am local time. You can buy UK tickets here, European tickets here and North American tickets here.See the full list of dates below.JUNE 20235 – Tel Aviv, Park Hayarkon9 – Madrid, Civitas Metropolitan Stadium12 – Vigo, Estadio Abanca Balaídos15 – Dessel, Grasspop Metal Meeting17 – Copenhagen, Copenhell21 – Oslo, Tons of Rock27 – Glasgow, Bellahouston Park30 – London, BST Hyde ParkJULY 20233 – Frankfurt, Deutsch Bank Park5 – Bern, BERNEXPO8 – Rome, Circo Massimo11 – Landgraaf, Megaland13 – Paris, La Defense16 – Bucharest, National Arena19 – Budapest, Puskás Arena22 – Athens, Olympic StadiumAUGUST 20235 – Moncton, Medavie Blue Cross Stadium8 – Montreal, Parc Jean Drapeau11 – Hershey, Hersheypark Stadium15 – East Rutherford, MetLife Stadium21 – Boston, Fenway Park24 – Chicago, Wrigley Field26 – Nashville, GEODIS Park29 – Charlotte, Spectrum CenterSEPTEMBER 20231 – Saratoga Springs, Saratoga Performing Arts Center3 – Toronto, Rogers Centre6 – Lexington, Rupp Arena9 – St. Louis, Busch Stadium12 –

Goldston said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to work with this brilliant group to create premium content based on the most compelling true-life stories.”   The launch of Goldston’s new non-fiction division is the latest in a series of initiatives driving Candle Media’s growth, beginning with the acquisitions of Hello Sunshine and Moonbug Entertainment in 2021, followed by eight additional acquisitions in the company’s first 12 months of operations. Candle has close to 1,000 employees, with offices in Los Angeles, London, New York, Nashville, Montreal, Mexico City, Tel Aviv, and Singapore. “We have known James for many years, through our collective time together at Disney,” Mayer and Staggs added.

EXCLUSIVE: Pig and Manodrome producer Ben Giladi is formally launching his production banner Liminal Content at this year’s Berlin Film Festival where Manodrome debuted in Competition.

Mooky Greidinger, CEO of exhibition giant Cineworld, has been handed a six-month suspended prison sentence and a £23,000 ($28,000) fine by Israeli officials over a breach of anti-trust law.

Best Feature: “All That Breathes”Best Director: Shaunak Sen, “All That Breathes”Best Short: “Haulot”Best TV Feature Documentary or Mini-Series: “Fannie Lou Hamer’s America: An America ReFramed Special”Best Curated Series: “POV”Best Episodic Series: “Origins of Hip Hop”Best Multi-Part Documentary: “We Need to Talk About Cosby”Best Short-Form Series: “POV Shorts”Best Stand-Alone Audio Documentary: “Documenting a Death by Euthanasia”Best Multi-Part Audio Documentary or Series: “Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s”Best Music Documentary: “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues”David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award: “Requiem for a Whale”  (The Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University)Best Cinematography: “Fire of Love”Cinematographers: Maurice Krafft, Katia Krafft, Pablo Alvarez-MesaBest Editing: “All That Breathes”Editors: Charlotte Munch Bengtsen, Vedant JoshiBest Music Score: “The Melt Goes On Forever: The Art & Times of David Hammons”Composer: Ramachandra BorcarBest Writing: “Fire of Love”Writers: Sara Dosa, Erin Casper, Jocelyne Chaput, Shane Boris)ABC News VideoSource Award: “Riotsville, U.S.A.”Pare Lorentz Award: “All That Breathes”Pare Lorentz Honorable Mention: “Nuisance Bear”

Fauda creators Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff are attending the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa for the world premiere of the fourth season of the show. Since the first season started streaming on Netflix, the Israeli political thriller has built up a huge following in India, and also has a Hindi-language remake, produced by Applause Entertainment for local streamer SonyLiv. 

Israel’s Sam Spiegel International Film Lab has appointed a new director and unveiled the projects selected for its 11th edition, running from now until the early summer.

EXCLUSIVE: After 15 years at Charles Roven’s Atlas Entertainment, where he served as Executive Vice President, producer Andy Horwitz has moved on to launch Big Swell Entertainment, a producing collective that aims to be a home for the next generation of young, hands-on producers and storytellers.

For weight loss, the particulars of what you eat and when is endlessly debated. Luckily, Michael Mosley has weighed in to share his take on the best breakfast for shedding pounds.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Iranian action drama “World War III,” which won two awards at the recent Venice festival, will feature among the main competition titles at next month’s Tokyo International Film Festival. The festival will operate as an in-person event with foreign filmmakers, media and other guests in attendance from Oct. 24-Nov. 2, 2022. “World War III” is joined in the competition section by the world premiere of Milcho Manchevski’s “Kaymak,” Spanish director Carlos Vermut’s “Manticore” and Roberta Torre’s “The Fabulous Ones,” Michale Boganim’s “Tel Aviv Beirut,” and Youssef Chebbi’s debut film “Ashkal.”

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Tel Aviv-based Donna and Shula Productions and “Tehran” director Daniel Syrkin have set a joint venture to develop TV series for the global market, with an emphasis on the U.S. and Europe. Donna and Shula Productions leaders Dana Eden and Shula Spiegel have shepherded two seasons of the espionage drama series “Tehran” with Syrkin. The series debuted in June 2020 on Israel’s Kan 11 broadcast network. Apple TV+ quickly picked up the show, making it the first non-English series to premiere on the platform. “Tehran” bowed on Apple TV+ in 2021 and the streaming giant partnered with Kan 11 on the production of a second season that premiered in May.

JD Linville In the thriller series “Euer Ehren,” a German-Austrian adaptation of the Israeli series “Your Honor” (“Kvodo”), Sebastian Koch (“The Lives of Others,” “Homeland”) plays Michael Jacobi, a judge caught up in his own web of deception as he struggles to protect his son. The project was brought to Koch by Al Munteanu, producer and founder of SquareOne Entertainment, and the pair worked together to bring the project to screen. Munteanu and Koch have proved a convincing combo, winning the interest of producer Christoph Pellander at ARD Degeto. “‘Euer Ehren’ is thrilling entertainment at its best,” said Pellander. “The script producer Al Munteanu and leading actor Sebastian Koch have electrified us from the first moment; hence we absolutely wanted to produce the thriller series collectively. In our version, co-produced with ORF and produced by SquareOne Productions and Mona Film, we shifted the story to Austria to bring it closer to our viewers’ environment and thereby managed to produce something truly unique.”

K.J. Yossman Keshet International (KI) CEO Alon Shtruzman is stepping down from the company at the end of the year, he confirmed today. KI is the content production and distribution arm of Israel-based Keshet Media Group (KMG). The company first attracted international attention with its drama series “Prisoners of War,” which was adapted by Showtime to become the hit show “Homeland,” before cementing its presence in 2012 as KI. Shtruzman has been with the company since 2012 and it is under his watch that KI established a global distribution and production infrastructure that has seen its shows, including “Suspicion,” “A Small Light” and “LA Brea,” picked up by networks from HBO and BBC to Netflix and Disney+.

K.J. Yossman Last Thursday evening (Sept. 8), “Operation London Bridge” – the codename for the British government’s longstanding arrangements surrounding Queen Elizabeth II’s death – swung into motion as the U.K.’s longest-serving monarch, who recently celebrated a record-breaking 70 years on the throne, drew her last breaths at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands. For global news outlets, this was also a moment many had spent decades preparing for. “I’ve literally been thinking about this for many, many years,” said ABC News’ senior executive producer for special events, Marc Burstein. Similarly Chris Shaw, editorial director at U.K. broadcaster ITN News, told Variety that over 35 years he has rehearsed the Queen’s death “several times each decade.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Beta Cinema has revealed that Menemsha Films has taken all rights to Ofir Raul Graizer’s critically acclaimed drama “America” for North America amidst strong interest for the territory. The sensual, visually impressive melodrama about a tragic incident turning upside down the life of a Tel Aviv-based couple and their childhood friend was rewarded with an enthusiastic standing ovation at its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where it played in the Crystal Globe Competition, and radiant reviews in the trade and consumer press. In “America,” Chicago-based swimming coach Eli returns to his homeland, Israel, after 10 years of absence. A visit to his childhood friend Yotam and his newly engaged fiancée Iris will set a series of events in motion that will affect everyone’s lives.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has debuted the trailer (below) for the Israeli-Ukrainian drama “Valeria Is Getting Married,” which will have its world premiere in Venice’s Horizons Extra Friday. The film will have its North American premiere at Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 14, where it is part of the Contemporary World Cinema lineup. The film, directed by Israeli female filmmaker Michal Vinik, is shot from the perspective of two Ukrainian sisters, and follows the tense emotional journey that unfolds over the course of one day. Valeria (Dasha Tvoronovich) arrives in Israel to meet the man she is supposed to marry, thanks to a deal made online. She is following in the footsteps of her older sister Christina (Lena Fraifeld), who is happy with her new life in Israel, but Valeria struggles with the decision.

Naman Ramachandran Guy Davidi, known for Sundance and Emmy winning and Oscar nominated documentary “Five Broken Cameras,” is Venice bound with his next film “Innocence.” The film, which is in the festival’s Horizons strand, the only documentary selected in the section, tells the story of children who were unwillingly enlisted into the Israel military service, and many of them died. Through a narration based on their diaries, the film depicts their inner turmoil and interweaves first-hand military images, key moments from childhood until enlistment and home videos of the deceased soldiers. “Nothing touches me more than a child’s sensitivity when they discover the world, and nothing hurts me more than seeing it getting crushed. Israel is not a place that values innocence. Its militarized identity requires the breaking down and distorting of the gentle lines of childhood. This commitment to violence has many victims, but there’s also a hidden tragedy – the collapse of parenthood,” says Davidi in his director’s note on the film, which has been 10 years in the making.

Israeli network Yes TV has greenlit a second season of Series Mania Award-winning comedy Bloody Murray, we can reveal.

Shirley Halperin Executive Editor, MusicThe singer GAYLE, whose “abcdefu” is among the most-consumed songs of 2022, will join Israeli pop star Noa Kirel onstage at her Aug. 24 concert at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park.Both singers are signed to Atlantic Records.