Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
August 2, 1919
Place of Birth:
Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate
Social Media
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.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Nehemiah Persoff, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story | Self - Interviewee |
| 2012 | Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom | Self |
| 2001 | 4 Faces | |
| 1999 | An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster | Papa Mousekewitz (voice) |
| 1998 | An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island | Papa Mousekewitz (voice) |
| 1991 | An American Tail: Fievel Goes West | Papa Mousekewitz (voice) |
| 1988 | Twins | Mitchell Traven |
| 1988 | The Last Temptation of Christ | Rabbi |
| 1986 | An American Tail | Papa Mousekewitz (voice) |
| 1983 | Yentl | Rebbe Mendel |
| 1982 | O'Hara's Wife | Dr. Fischer |
| 1982 | St. Helens | Mr. Ellison |
| 1980 | The Henderson Monster | Prof. Leo Tedeschi |
| 1980 | F.D.R.: The Last Year | Josef Stalin |
| 1980 | Turnover Smith | Ashmed Amad |
| 1979 | In Search of Historic Jesus | Herod Antipas |
| 1979 | The Rebels | Baron Von Steuben |
| 1979 | A Cry For Justice | Dr. Burke |
| 1978 | The Making of a President | |
| 1978 | Killing Stone | Earl Stone |
| 1978 | Daniel in the Lions' Den | Malimar |
| 1978 | Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women | Charles Frohman |
| 1978 | A Double Life | |
| 1977 | Deadly Harvest | Mort Logan |
| 1976 | Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident | Rudenko |
| 1976 | Voyage of the Damned | Herr Hauser |
| 1975 | Psychic Killer | Doctor Gubner |
| 1975 | Eric | Dr. Duchesnes |
| 1974 | The Sex Symbol | Nick Fortis |
| 1974 | The Stranger Within | Dr. Edward Klein |
| 1973 | Dracula | Dr. Van Helsing |
| 1972 | Lapin 360 | |
| 1972 | Michael O'Hara the Fourth | Artie Moreno |
| 1972 | Lieutenant Schuster's Wife | Champagne Joe Carroll |
| 1971 | Mrs. Pollifax — Spy | Berisha |
| 1971 | Red Sky at Morning | Amadeo Montoya |
| 1970 | The People Next Door | Dr. Salazar |
| 1970 | Cutter's Trail | Santillo |
| 1969 | The Girl Who Knew Too Much | Lieutenant Crawford |
| 1968 | The Treasure of San Bosco Reef | Captain Malcione |
| 1968 | The Power | Prof. Carl Melnicker |
| 1968 | Escape to Mindanao | Capt. Kramer |
| 1968 | Panic in the City | August Best |
| 1968 | The Day of the Owl | Pizzuco |
| 1967 | The Money Jungle | Lt. Dow Reeves |
| 1966 | The Dangerous Days Of Kiowa Jones | Skoda |
| 1966 | Too Many Thieves | Georgi |
| 1965 | The Greatest Story Ever Told | Shemiah |
| 1964 | Fate Is the Hunter | Ben Sawyer |
| 1964 | A Global Affair | Under Secretary Segura |
| 1963 | The Hook | Capt. Van Ryn |
| 1961 | The Comancheros | Graile |
| 1961 | The Big Show | Bruno Everard |
| 1959 | Some Like It Hot | Little Bonaparte |
| 1959 | For Whom the Bell Tolls | Pablo |
| 1959 | Al Capone | Johnny Torrio |
| 1959 | Day of the Outlaw | Dan, Starret's Foreman |
| 1959 | Green Mansions | Don Panta |
| 1959 | Never Steal Anything Small | Pinelli |
| 1959 | The Killers of Mussolini | Benito Mussolini |
| 1958 | The Badlanders | Vincente (The Powder Monkey) |
| 1957 | Men in War | Sgt. Lewis |
| 1957 | Street of Sinners | Leon |
| 1957 | The Death of Manolete | Camera |
| 1957 | This Angry Age | Albert Legros |
| 1957 | Mayerling | Police Officer |
| 1956 | The Wrong Man | Gene Conforti |
| 1956 | The Harder They Fall | Leo |
| 1956 | The Wild Party | Kicks Johnson |
| 1955 | The Thief | D'Arnault-Olivier |
| 1954 | On the Waterfront | Cab Driver (uncredited) |
| 1953 | Marty | The Critic |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Chicago Hope | |
| 1990 | Law & Order | David Steinmetz |
| 1987 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Toff |
| 1987 | J.J. Starbuck | |
| 1986 | L.A. Law | Rabbi Isadore Glickman |
| 1985 | MacGyver | Sam Bolinski |
| 1984 | Highway to Heaven | |
| 1984 | Hunter | Harold Goodman |
| 1984 | Murder, She Wrote | Constantin Stavros |
| 1983 | Scarecrow and Mrs. King | |
| 1982 | Hotel | |
| 1980 | Magnum, P.I. | Rabbi Asher Solomon |
| 1980 | B.A.D. Cats | |
| 1980 | Condominium | Conlaw |
| 1979 | The Facts of Life | |
| 1979 | The French Atlantic Affair | Col. Schreiner |
| 1978 | Vega$ | |
| 1978 | The Word | Abbot Petropolous |
| 1978 | Battlestar Galactica | Eastern Alliance Leader |
| 1977 | Logan's Run | |
| 1977 | Hunter | Sheik Farakbi |
| 1977 | The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries | Vladimir |
| 1976 | Quincy, M.E. | |
| 1976 | Charlie's Angels | Anton |
| 1976 | The Bionic Woman | |
| 1976 | Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II | Charles Dietrich |
| 1976 | McNaughton's Daughter | Vinnie Laine |
| 1975 | Baretta | |
| 1975 | Wonder Woman | Professor Moreno |
| 1975 | Ellery Queen | |
| 1975 | Barney Miller | Carl Simms |
| 1975 | Barney Miller | Yacov Berger |
| 1975 | The Invisible Man | Dr. Leon Barnard |
| 1974 | Little House on the Prairie | |
| 1974 | The Six Million Dollar Man | Major Popov |
| 1973 | Police Story | |
| 1973 | Purple Playhouse | Dr. Van Helsing |
| 1972 | The Streets of San Francisco | |
| 1972 | Search | |
| 1972 | Cool Million | Karinakis |
| 1971 | Columbo | Jesse Jerome |
| 1971 | The Chicago Teddy Bears | |
| 1971 | McMillan & Wife | Clementa Habib |
| 1970 | McCloud | |
| 1970 | Dan August | Leo Cussoni |
| 1969 | Marcus Welby, M.D. | Max Behrman |
| 1969 | The Bill Cosby Show | Mr. Byron |
| 1969 | Love, American Style | Mr. Stone |
| 1968 | Hawaii Five-O | Harry Cardonus |
| 1968 | Land of the Giants | Titus |
| 1968 | The Mod Squad | |
| 1968 | Adam-12 | Angelo Covelli |
| 1968 | The Name of the Game | Ambassador |
| 1968 | Hawaii Five-O | Winkler |
| 1968 | Hawaii Five-O | Leo Paoli |
| 1968 | Hawaii Five-O | Cordell |
| 1968 | Hawaii Five-O | Victor Palua |
| 1968 | Hawaii Five-O | Allie Francis |
| 1968 | The Mod Squad | Nick Master |
| 1968 | The Treasure of San Bosco Reef | Captain Malcione |
| 1968 | It Takes a Thief | Harry Lavender |
| 1967 | The High Chaparral | Homero José |
| 1967 | Mannix | Anton Wojeska |
| 1966 | Mission: Impossible | Igor Stravos |
| 1966 | Tarzan | Chembe Kunji |
| 1966 | CBS Playhouse | |
| 1966 | Jericho | |
| 1966 | Mission: Impossible | Phillipe Pereda |
| 1966 | Mission: Impossible | Prince Iben Kostas |
| 1966 | The Time Tunnel | Prof. Anton Biraki |
| 1965 | The Big Valley | General Vicente Ruiz |
| 1965 | Honey West | Faustini |
| 1965 | The Legend of Jesse James | El Carnicero |
| 1965 | The Wild Wild West | Major Hazard |
| 1965 | The Wild Wild West | Gen. Andreas Cassinello |
| 1964 | Gilligan's Island | |
| 1964 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Valandros |
| 1963 | Burke's Law | Jason Flonder |
| 1963 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | |
| 1963 | Mr. Novak | Henry Selkirk |
| 1963 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Alverian |
| 1963 | Burke's Law | Albert Indigo, 'Mr. I' |
| 1963 | Burke's Law | Wilhelm Kasimer |
| 1962 | Sam Benedict | |
| 1961 | Bus Stop | |
| 1961 | Ben Casey | |
| 1961 | The New Breed | Louis Morley |
| 1961 | The Wonderful World of Disney | |
| 1960 | Route 66 | |
| 1959 | Mr. Lucky | |
| 1959 | The Twilight Zone | Carl Lanser |
| 1959 | Rawhide | Domingo |
| 1959 | The Untouchables | Jake 'Greasy Thumb' Guzik |
| 1959 | Rawhide | Michob |
| 1959 | The Untouchables | Johnny Fortunato |
| 1958 | Naked City | Barney Peters |
| 1958 | Naked City | Dominic Venussi |
| 1958 | Naked City | Max Evar |
| 1958 | Naked City | Carlos Ruldan |
| 1958 | Naked City | Berco Romanu |
| 1958 | Naked City | Merritt Griffin |
| 1958 | Shirley Temple's Storybook | Ali Baba |
| 1956 | Playhouse 90 | Pablo |
| 1956 | Playhouse 90 | Prisoners Father |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke | Jack Pinto |
| 1955 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Ralph Collins |
| 1955 | Playwrights '56 | |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke | Mr. Dano |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke | Alex Skouras |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke | Driscoll |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke | Ben Rando |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke | Alejo Etchahoun |
| 1955 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Jeff Jensen |
| 1954 | Climax! | Lieutenant Cal Nourse |
| 1954 | The Wonderful World of Disney | Artie Moreno |
| 1953 | The United States Steel Hour | Dr. Arnault / Oliver |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Dr. Duchesnes |
| 1951 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Jules Dreise |
| 1950 | Armstrong Circle Theatre | |
| 1948 | The Philco Television Playhouse | Ed Kagan |