For Me its always been Topol. He reallyv gets inside Tevye. now don'y get me wrong I love Zero..one of the funniest men who ever lived..but i never felt Tevye was the role for him. He owns Max in Producers and Pseudolus in Forum but his Teveye lacks something that Topol has.

Topol. I agree with you about Zero in that his Max Bailystock and Psuedolus are genuis, however, I think since Tevye is more serious, he struggled with it. Now, I think that the funny lines that Tevye has probably brought the house down with Mostel. However, I think Topol got the dramatic aspect of the role. I've read things about Mostel doing the show and making horrible imporvs about stuff like coming out on stage an announcing the score of a boxing match that was taking place or making jokes about President Johnson on stage...things that would have fit perfectly in Forum but just didn't belong in a dramatic piece such as Fidler on the Roof. I though Alfred Molina's Tevye was good too. He delievered the lines in a slightly different way and brought something to the character i can't quite put my finger on. Maybe he brought more spirit and youth to it...I don't know. But, anyway, I definately think Topol was the best, thats why I bought the London recording over the Broadway. The only complaint I have about Topol is that he drags some of the dialouge out WWWWAAAAAAAAYYYYYY too long...maybe I'm just uber impatient.

Topol, hands effing down. He IS Tevye, for me anyway.

I agree with you, Salome, Zero is incredible as well, and I love his take on Tevye. But Topol has that extra something.

I didn't like Molina at all, actually. Something about him just rubbed me the wrong way straight off and I didn't enjoy his performance. Sub-par, I thought.

Weird fact #929382: My uncle is the identical twin of Topol. Not really, but he looks just like him. No lie. Next month's family party, I'm getting a picture and putting it up here. You'll flip!

I was fortunate enough to have seen Topol perform in the National Tour of "Fiddler" in the late '80's. It was simply one of the best performances I have ever seen. I was so moved by him, really. I felt blessed to have been able to see such a wonderful portrayal of a character.

I saw Topol in Melbourne last year - he was fantastic. He just is Tevye. He knows him inside out. He performs it perfectly. And the way he delivers his comic lines makes them even funnier - he doesn't go looking for laughs. He just says what's going through Tevye's head, and it's hilarious!

Since Zero Mostel died in 1977, Topol has by default pretty much owned Tevye. Zero's son Josh may have played the Big T; does anyone know? The only other professional actor I've ever seen as Tevye is Theo Bikel in the 30th anniversary touring production; I'm surprised to see him missed from this poll. Can it be edited to add him?

I tried to edit the poll but caN'T. I am shocked that I missed Bikel too. I never saw him as Tevye but I did see him in concert and he brilliantly sang 3 of the songs from Fiddler. I love Bikel in everything Ive seen him do.

I am going to say what everyone else has said. Topol is Tevye, he is the best one.