Nehemiah Persoff

Nehemiah Persoff

1919-08-02 – 2022-04-05 (age 102) Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate
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Biography

Nehemiah Persoff (August 2, 1919 – April 5, 2022) was an American film and television actor. He was born in Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate.

Born in what is now part of Israel, Persoff emigrated with his family to the United States in 1929. He began to take an interest in acting in the 1940s, and after serving in the Army during World War II, he began to pursue his acting career in the New York Theater. In 1947, he was accepted into the Actor's Studio and eventually began appearing in films.

His film credits include: On the Waterfront, Some Like It Hot, Al Capone, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Voyage of the Damned, The Comancheros, Yentl (portraying Barbra Streisand's character's father), Twins and the American Tail (animated-film series) (voiced, "Papa Mousekewitz").

Persoff appeared in such television series as, Five Fingers ("The Moment of Truth"), The Big Valley ("Legend of a General", Parts I & II, episode), The Twilight Zone ("Judgment Night" episode), Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("Heart of Gold" episode), The Untouchables, Naked City, The Legend of Jesse James, Gunsmoke, The Wild Wild West, Hawaii Five-O, Ellery Queen ("The Adventure of the Pharaoh's Curse" episode), Mission: Impossible (3 episodes), Adam-12 ("Vendetta" episode), Charlie's Angels, Hunter, Columbo, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Magnum, P.I., Law & Order and Chicago Hope.

In the mid-1980s, Persoff began to pursue painting, specializing in watercolour. This was at a time when health problems forced him to decrease his acting workload.

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Known For

On the Waterfront
On the Waterfront

1954

as Cab Driver (uncredited)

Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot

1959

as Little Bonaparte

Twins
Twins

1988

as Mitchell Traven

An American Tail
An American Tail

1986

as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)

The Last Temptation of Christ
The Greatest Story Ever Told
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

1991

as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)

The Comancheros
The Comancheros

1961

as Graile

Yentl
Yentl

1983

as Rebbe Mendel

The Harder They Fall
An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island
Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned

1976

as Herr Hauser

Green Mansions
Green Mansions

1959

as Don Panta

Al Capone
Al Capone

1959

as Johnny Torrio

The Badlanders
The Badlanders

1958

as Vincente (The Powder Monkey)

The Wrong Man
The Wrong Man

1956

as Gene Conforti

An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster
The Power
The Power

1968

as Prof. Carl Melnicker

Day of the Outlaw
Day of the Outlaw

1959

as Dan, Starret's Foreman

Mrs. Pollifax β€” Spy