Actor. Highly-versatile, he played a wide range of parts and may perhaps be best remembered for his stage performances, notably as ‘Tevye’ in “Fiddler on the Roof”. Born to a Austrian-Jewish family, he learned Hebrew and Yiddish at home, while being taught German in school. After the Nazi occupation of Austria, he fled with his family to Palestine and while there, he attended agricultural college, in addition to working as a laborer on a farm, also known as a kibbutz. He developed a liking for the theater and after moving to Tel Aviv, he studied acting and helped establish the Tel Aviv Chamber Theater in 1944. Two-yeats later, he went to England and studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Ari and later marked his debut on the London stage. In 1954, he relocated to the United States (later becoming a naturalized citizen) and marked his motion picture debut in “The African Queen” (1951), playing a German Naval Officer. He began his association with Broadway in the play “Tonight in Samarkand” (1956) and received a Tony Award nomination for “The Rope Dancers” (1957 to 1958). He earned a Tony Award nomination for his original portrayal of ‘Captain Georg von Trapp’ in “The Sound of Music” (1959 to 1963). He earned an Academy Award nomination playing the sympathetic sheriff in the film “The Defiant Ones” (1958). Among his other film credits include “The Enemy Below” (1958), “I Bury the Living” (1958), “I Want to Live!” (1958), “A Dog of Flanders” (1960), “My Fair Lady” (1964), “Darker Than Amber” (1970) and the TV-Movie “Raid at Entebbe” (1976). Among his many TV credits include “The Twilight Zone”, “Columbo” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. (bio by: C.S.)  Family links:  Spouse:  Tamara Brooks (1941 – 2012)