Chaim Topol does, as you see, have a first name. But professionally, the Tel Aviv-born actor is best known simply as Topol. And though his eclectic resumé includes everything from Othello to the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only, his signature role is a character dreamed up by Sholom Aleichem decades before Topol was born: Tevye, the Russian-Jewish dairyman who became the central character in the 1964 Broadway musical smash Fiddler on the Roof.

The burly Zero Mostel was the first to play Tevye in Fiddler, a 1964 show that became the first Broadway musical to run more than 3,000 performances. Theodore Bikel is another well-known Tevye, having played the part more than 2,000 times. But Topol, who was London's first Tevye in 1967 (at the grand old age of 31), not only went on to star in the 1971 Fiddler movie musical but today is also edging toward his 3,000th performance in the part.

Now an energetic and reflective 74-year-old, Topol will get 17 performances closer to that mark when the touring production of Fiddler on the Roof stops at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts for a two-week run beginning Tuesday.

Recently, from yet another stop on a seemingly endless road, the actor spoke about the role and the show that played such a large part in his career.

Q: How would you describe the differences between the way you played Tevye the first time and the way you play him today?

A: I was very lucky to be molded by two wonderful directors: Jerry [Jerome] Robbins, who directed me in London, and Norman Jewison, who directed me for the film. I cherish what they taught me.

For the first 15 years, including the film, I was trying to restrict my behavior to what I thought a mature man would behave like. I didn't want to do anything that would break the illusion of an elderly character. I had played an older man before in Sallah Shabati, which was nominated for the Oscar for best foreign film, and because of that I was invited to audition for Fiddler on the Roof in London.

I walked into the room, in front of a whole battery of producers, the director, the writers, and my William Morris agent said, ``Gentlemen, this is Mr. Topol.'' They were very surprised to see a young man.

They were all very brave to let me play that part in the West End, when they had a line of wonderful actors wanting to do it.

Q: How do your 43 additional years of life affect the way Tevye's experience with his family resonate with you?

A: The main thing is that I've now experienced what I was trying to imagine when I was young: bringing up children, giving away a daughter to a stranger. Then, I was married eight years, and 25 looked so long. My perspective has changed. I know what I'm talking about.

Q: How do you take care of yourself on a long tour?

A: I do the show eight times a week, but, luckily, I'm still physically capable of doing what the part demands. I'm careful with food, rest. I walk and run. I don't drink alcohol. I'm trying to be good!

Q: How do you keep a role you've played so many times fresh?

A: It's the job of an actor, whether it's the 40th performance or the 400th, to make the audience believe it's for the first time.

This is my seventh production of Fiddler on the Roof. You react to the actors playing with you. Each person who plays a daughter or Tevye's wife or the butcher, each is really different. And those differences that they bring to the roles refresh your mind. The look, the color of the eyes, the height, width, tempo of speaking, the color of the voice: You don't behave exactly as you did with your first wife.

Each one of those wives brought something else to the role. Some had never been married. Some had never had children. Some had gone through all the colors of married life. You work with that and use it as material.

Q: Why is the role of Tevye one of the great male parts in musical theater?

A: First, it was created by Sholom Aleichem. It's the history of my family. My grandfather was a Tevye -- and his grandfather. I really cherish that fact. My genes are helping me to be Tevye.

It's a very colorful role. You dance, you sing, you joke, you cry. The first act is full of humor. By the second act, my throat is full of tears.

Apart from the fact that Sholom Aleichem wrote a wonderful story, it was adapted for the stage by a group of geniuses. Joseph Stein wrote the story, Jerry Bock the music. Sheldon Harnick wrote lyrics you can act, not just sing. And then [there's] the main contributor, Jerry Robbins. He created the concept and the incredible choreography. He staged it in such a genius way.

Norman Jewison molded it too. He took the stage work and made it right for the camera. He told me not to play to the last row of the theater but to play the role inside me and let the camera see it.

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