(WTVO) — Chaim Topol, best known for playing the “Fiddler on the Roof,” has died at the age of 87.

According to CNN, Topol died in Israel after “a long illness.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid his condolences Thursday, saying Topol was a “multi-faceted artist, with great charisma and energy.”

Topol went by his surname, “Topol,” throughout much of his career.

He played Dr. Hans Zarkov in the 1980’s adaptation of “Flash Gordon,” and was in the James Bond adventure “For Your Eyes Only” in 1981.

He was nominated for an Oscar and won the Golden Globe for playing Teyve the milkman in “Fiddler on the Roof” in 1971.

Topol had briefly filled the role in a Tel Aviv stage version of the play before being asked to play the part in London.

“They were very brave to let me have that part … Considering that my English was so limited,” with a “vocabulary of 50 words,” he added. “I still don’t understand how they let me have the part.”