Acting
Nehemiah Persoff
EN, FR, IT cinema · 71 credits
Born
2 August 1919
Died
5 April 2022 (aged 102)
Birthplace
Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate
Nehemiah Persoff was an American film and television actor. Persoff emigrated with his family from Palestine 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.
Known for
Filmography
Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story
2022
Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story
as Self - Interviewee
An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster
as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island
as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
Twins
as Mitchell Traven
An American Tail
as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
Yentl
as Rebbe Mendel
O'Hara's Wife
as Dr. Fischer
St. Helens
as Mr. Ellison
The Henderson Monster
as Prof. Leo Tedeschi
F.D.R.: The Last Year
as Josef Stalin
Turnover Smith
as Ashmed Amad
In Search of Historic Jesus
as Herod Antipas
A Cry for Justice
as Dr. Burke
Killing Stone
as Earl Stone
Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women
as Charles Frohman
Deadly Harvest
as Mort Logan
Voyage of the Damned
as Herr Hauser
Psychic Killer
as Doctor Gubner
Eric
as Dr. Duchesnes
The Sex Symbol
as Nick Fortis
The Stranger Within
as Dr. Edward Klein
Dracula
1973
Dracula
as Dr. Van Helsing
Michael O'Hara the Fourth
as Artie Moreno
Lieutenant Schuster's Wife
as Champagne Joe Carroll
Mrs. Pollifax — Spy
as Berisha
Red Sky at Morning
as Amadeo Montoya
The People Next Door
as Dr. Salazar
Cutter's Trail
as Santillo
The Girl Who Knew Too Much
as Lieutenant Crawford
The Treasure of San Bosco Reef
as Captain Malcione
The Power
as Carl Melnicker
Escape to Mindanao
as Capt. Kramer
Panic in the City
as August Best
The Day of the Owl
as Pizzuco
The Money Jungle
as Lt. Dow Reeves
Too Many Thieves
as Georgi
The Greatest Story Ever Told
as Shemiah
Fate Is the Hunter
as Ben Sawyer
A Global Affair
as Under Secretary Segura
The Hook
as Capt. Van Ryn
The Comancheros
as Graile
The Big Show
as Bruno Everard
Some Like It Hot
as Little Bonaparte
Al Capone
as Johnny Torrio
Day of the Outlaw
as Dan, Starret's Foreman
Green Mansions
as Don Panta
Never Steal Anything Small
as Pinelli
The Killers of Mussolini
as Benito Mussolini
The Badlanders
as Vincente (The Powder Monkey)
Men in War
as Sgt. Lewis
The Death of Manolete
as Camera
This Angry Age
as Albert Legros
Mayerling
as Police Officer
The Wrong Man
as Gene Conforti
The Wild Party
as Kicks Johnson
The Thief
as D'Arnault-Olivier
On the Waterfront
as Cab Driver (uncredited)
Marty
as The Critic