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But, when I toil in the field of Jewish culture which I frequently do, I am indeed a Jewish artist.

Theodore Bikel

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Theodore Bikel
Age: 91 †
Born: 1924
Born: May 2
Died: 2015
Died: July 21
Actor
Businessperson
Film Actor
Musician
Politician
Stage Actor
Television Actor
Trade Unionist
Vienna
Austria
Theodore Meir Bikel
Field
Indeed
Fields
Culture
Artist
Toil
Frequently
Jewish

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I know for certain of only one commandment, one obligation, that God imposes upon us, and that is to be compassionate toward other human beings.
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Audiences are audiences.
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I do prefer the stage. It's really the granddaddy of them all.
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I prefer to choose which traditions to keep and which to let go.
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For I firmly believe that Jewish life, indeed any communal life, can only be organized according to democratic principles.
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I do not know who there is among us that can claim to know God's purpose and God's intent.
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I am a Zionist, an ardent supporter of Israel, its defender when I deem Israel to be right and its critic when I deem it to be wrong.
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I glory in the fact that a human being has multiple talents and exercises them all with a degree of integrity and artistic proficiency. That's what I do.
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I am determined to give the Yiddish language a fighting chance to survive.
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Retiring' - within that word is 'tiring,' and I'm not tired. I don't believe in retirement, really.
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It's a sad thing to contemplate, but I'm the last surviving cast member of 'The African Queen.'
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You don't really need modernity in order to exist totally and fully. You need a mixture of modernity and tradition.
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In my world, history comes down to language and art. No one cares much about what battles were fought, who won them and who lost them - unless there is a painting, a play, a song or a poem that speaks of the event.
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Must we be put to shame by much smaller and poorer countries, by Ireland, France, Austria or Sweden, who have understood that a nation's support of its arts is a matter of both national pride and cultural survival?
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Every actor wants to direct and produce, but I made a conscious decision when I was in college to understand the 'business' of 'show business.'
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You always draw on your experiences with live audiences to know how to do comedy on films. You're working for a laugh that may or may not come six months later, but you're working in a vacuum at the time you are doing it.
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An actor is supposed to emulate life. Instead, alas, many are imitating other actors. You don't fashion your knowledge of theatre or your approach to a role on the basis of what other actors have done. This kind of thinking is a great danger, especially in dealing with TV producers who frequently say things like, 'This is a Sean Connery type.'
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But there is a difference here: When Jewish children are murdered, Arabs celebrate the deed. The death of an Arab child is no cause for celebration in Israel.
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We Jews have a special attachment to the Book. The study of page after page in tomes yellowing with age was obligatory.
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As an artist I have an even more abiding interest in the compact between the Arts and Government.
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