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Nehemiah Persoff

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Birthdate

1919-08-02

Day of Death

2022-04-05

Place of Birth

Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate

Nehemiah Persoff

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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Nehemiah Persoff, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography (71)

No Image
⭐ 10.0 Role: Self - Interviewee

Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story

2022
⭐ 7.4 Role: Self

Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom

2012
No Image
⭐ 7.0 Role: Unknown

4 Faces

2001
⭐ 6.3 Role: Papa Mousekewitz (voice)

An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster

1999
⭐ 6.3 Role: Papa Mousekewitz (voice)

An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island

1998
⭐ 6.3 Role: Papa Mousekewitz (voice)

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

1991
⭐ 6.0 Role: Mitchell Traven

Twins

1988
⭐ 7.2 Role: Rabbi

The Last Temptation of Christ

1988
⭐ 6.8 Role: Papa Mousekewitz (voice)

An American Tail

1986
⭐ 6.7 Role: Rebbe Mendel

Yentl

1983
⭐ 5.7 Role: Dr. Fischer

O'Hara's Wife

1982
⭐ 6.2 Role: Mr. Ellison

St. Helens

1982
⭐ 7.0 Role: Ashmed Amad

Turnover Smith

1980
⭐ 6.0 Role: Prof. Leo Tedeschi

The Henderson Monster

1980
⭐ 6.9 Role: Josef Stalin

F.D.R.: The Last Year

1980