Nehemiah Persoff
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1919-08-02
Day of Death
2022-04-05 (102 years old)
Place of Birth
Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate
Nehemiah Persoff
Biography
Nehemiah Persoff (born August 2, 1919) was a former American film and television character 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
Acting
(2022)
Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story
as Self - Interviewee
(2012)
(2001)
(1999)
An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster
as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
(1998)
An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island
as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
(1991)
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
(1988)
Twins
as Mitchell Traven
(1988)
The Last Temptation of Christ
as Rabbi
(1986)
An American Tail
as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
(1983)
Yentl
as Rebbe Mendel
(1982)
St. Helens
as Mr. Ellison
(1982)
O'Hara's Wife
as Dr. Fischer
(1980)
F.D.R.: The Last Year
as Josef Stalin
(1980)
The Henderson Monster
as Prof. Leo Tedeschi
(1980)
Turnover Smith
as Ashmed Amad
(1979)
In Search of Historic Jesus
as Herod Antipas
(1979)
The Rebels
as Baron Von Steuben
(1979)
A Cry For Justice
as Dr. Burke
(1978)
Killing Stone
as Earl Stone
(1978)
(1978)
Daniel in the Lions' Den
as Malimar
(1978)
Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women
as Charles Frohman
(1978)
(1977)
Deadly Harvest
as Mort Logan
(1976)
Voyage of the Damned
as Herr Hauser
(1976)
(1975)
Psychic Killer
as Doctor Gubner
(1975)
Eric
as Dr. Duchesnes
(1974)
The Stranger Within
as Dr. Edward Klein
(1974)
The Sex Symbol
as Nick Fortis
(1973)
Dracula
as Dr. Van Helsing
(1972)
(1972)
Michael O'Hara the Fourth
as Artie Moreno
(1972)
Lieutenant Schuster's Wife
as Champagne Joe Carroll
(1971)
Red Sky at Morning
as Amadeo Montoya
(1971)
Mrs. Pollifax — Spy
as Berisha
(1970)
The People Next Door
as Dr. Salazar
(1970)
Cutter's Trail
as Santillo
(1969)
The Girl Who Knew Too Much
as Lieutenant Crawford
(1968)
The Power
as Prof. Carl Melnicker
(1968)
The Day of the Owl
as Pizzuco
(1968)
Panic in the City
as August Best
(1968)
The Treasure of San Bosco Reef
as Captain Malcione
(1968)
Escape to Mindanao
as Capt. Kramer
(1967)
The Money Jungle
as Lt. Dow Reeves
(1966)
Too Many Thieves
as Georgi
(1966)
(1965)
The Greatest Story Ever Told
as Shemiah
(1964)
A Global Affair
as Under Secretary Segura
(1964)
Fate Is the Hunter
as Ben Sawyer
(1963)
The Hook
as Capt. Van Ryn
(1961)
The Comancheros
as Graile
(1961)
The Big Show
as Bruno Everard
(1959)
Some Like It Hot
as Little Bonaparte
(1959)
Day of the Outlaw
as Dan, Starret's Foreman
(1959)
Al Capone
as Johnny Torrio
(1959)
Green Mansions
as Don Panta
(1959)
The Killers of Mussolini
as Benito Mussolini
(1959)
Never Steal Anything Small
as Pinelli
(1959)
For Whom the Bell Tolls
as Pablo
(1958)
The Badlanders
as Vincente (The Powder Monkey)
(1957)
Men in War
as Sgt. Lewis
(1957)
Mayerling
as Police Officer
(1957)
This Angry Age
as Albert Legros
(1957)
Street of Sinners
as Leon
(1957)
The Death of Manolete
as Camera
(1956)
The Wrong Man
as Gene Conforti
(1956)
The Harder They Fall
as Leo
(1956)
The Wild Party
as Kicks Johnson
(1955)
The Thief
as D'Arnault-Olivier
(1954)
On the Waterfront
as Cab Driver (uncredited)
(1953)
Marty
as The Critic