Tutte Lemkow | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lemkow in The Guns of Navarone (1961) | |
| Born | Isak Samuel Lemkow 28 August 1918 Oslo, Norway |
| Died | 10 November 1991 (aged 73) London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, dancer |
| Years active | 1945–1985 |
| Spouse(s) |
Sara Luzita (m. 1954; div.) |
| Children | 4 |
Tutte Lemkow (born Isak Samuel Lemkow; 28 August 1918 – 10 November 1991) was a Norwegian actor and dancer, who played mostly villainous roles in British television and films. His chief claims to mainstream familiarity were his roles as the fiddler in the film version of Fiddler on the Roof and the old man ("Imam") who translates the inscription on the headpiece of the Staff of Ra for Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Lemkow appeared as a dancer, together with Sara Luzita, in John Huston's 1952 film Moulin Rouge. Other films include Blake Edwards' A Shot in the Dark as the Cossack who drinks the poison intended for Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau, Sellers' films The Wrong Arm of the Law, The Wrong Box and Ghost in the Noonday Sun, Woody Allen's Love and Death and the Morecambe and Wise comedy film The Intelligence Men (1965).
He played three roles in Doctor Who with William Hartnell's Doctor: Kuiju in Marco Polo (1964), Ibrahim in The Crusade (1965) and Cyclops in The Myth Makers (1965), as well as providing choreography for The Celestial Toymaker (1966) and Casino Royale (1967).
In 1968 he played the role of 'Old Gorgy' in the episode "Legacy of Death" of The Avengers.
He adapted Ibsen's play for the 1983 film The Wild Duck.[1]
Lemkow was born in Oslo, Norway, of Jewish heritage.[2] He was married to Swedish actress Mai Zetterling from 1944 to 1953. In 1954, he married dancer Sara Luzita.
Lemkow died in London of acute myeloid leukaemia at the age of 73. A biography called Tutte Lemkow; På tå hev written by Margaret Ljunggren was published in Oslo in 1989. (Gyldendal Norsk Forlag A/S)
