Nehemiah Persoff
Born: 1919-08-02 in Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate
Died: 2022-04-05
Known For: Acting
Biography
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.
Filmography
2022
- Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story as Self - Interviewee
2012
- Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom as Self
2003
- Angels in America as Rabbi (uncredited)
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)
1994
- Chicago Hope as Rabbi Ben Taubler
1991
- An American Tail: Fievel Goes West as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
1990
- Law & Order as David Steinmetz
1989
- Doogie Howser, M.D. as Max Wernick
1988
- Twins as Mitchell Traven
- The Last Temptation of Christ as Rabbi
1987
1986
- L.A. Law as Rabbi Isadore Glickman
- An American Tail as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
1985
- MacGyver as Sam Bolinski
1984
- Murder, She Wrote as Constantin Stavros
- Hunter as Harold Goodman
- Highway to Heaven
1983
- Scarecrow and Mrs. King
- Yentl as Rebbe Mendel
1982
- Hotel
- American Playhouse as Marcus Hoff
- O'Hara's Wife as Dr. Fischer
- St. Helens as Mr. Ellison
1980
- Magnum, P.I. as Rabbi Asher Solomon
- Condominium as Conlaw
- B.A.D. Cats
- F.D.R.: The Last Year as Josef Stalin
- Turnover Smith as Ashmed Amad
- The Henderson Monster as Prof. Leo Tedeschi
1979
- The Facts of Life
- Supertrain as Max
- The French Atlantic Affair as Col. Schreiner
- The Rebels as Baron Von Steuben
- In Search of Historic Jesus as Herod Antipas
- A Cry for Justice as Dr. Burke
1978
- Fantasy Island as Horst Von Stern
- Vega$
- Battlestar Galactica as Eastern Alliance Leader
- The Word as Abbot Petropolous
- Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women as Charles Frohman
- Killing Stone as Earl Stone
- A Double Life
- The Making of a President
- Daniel in the Lions' Den as Malimar
1977
- The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries as Vladimir
- Logan's Run as ASA
- Hunter as Sheik Farakbi
- Deadly Harvest as Mort Logan
1976
- Charlie's Angels as Anton
- Quincy, M.E.
- The Bionic Woman
- Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II as Charles Dietrich
- Voyage of the Damned as Herr Hauser
- McNaughton's Daughter as Vinnie Laine
- Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident as Rudenko
1975
- Barney Miller as Carl Simms
- Baretta
- Wonder Woman as Professor Moreno
- Ellery Queen
- The Invisible Man as Dr. Leon Barnard
- Psychic Killer as Doctor Gubner
- Eric as Dr. Duchesnes
1974
- Little House on the Prairie as Mr. Olaf Lundstrom
- The Six Million Dollar Man as Major Popov
- The Sex Symbol as Nick Fortis
- The Stranger Within as Dr. Edward Klein
1973
- Police Story
- Dracula as Dr. Van Helsing
- Purple Playhouse as Dr. Van Helsing
1972
- The Streets of San Francisco
- Search
- Cool Million as Karinakis
- Lieutenant Schuster's Wife as Champagne Joe Carroll
- Michael O'Hara the Fourth as Artie Moreno
- Lapin 360
1971
- Columbo as Jesse Jerome
- McMillan & Wife as Clementa Habib
- The Chicago Teddy Bears
- Mrs. Pollifax — Spy as Berisha
- Red Sky at Morning as Amadeo Montoya
1970
- McCloud
- Dan August as Leo Cussoni
- Cutter's Trail as Santillo
- The People Next Door as Dr. Salazar
1969
- Love, American Style as Mr. Stone
- Marcus Welby, M.D. as Max Behrman
- The Bill Cosby Show as Mr. Byron
- The Girl Who Knew Too Much as Lieutenant Crawford
1968
- Hawaii Five-O as Harry Cardonus
- Adam-12 as Angelo Covelli
- The Name of the Game as Ambassador
- Land of the Giants as Titus
- It Takes a Thief as Harry Lavender
- The Mod Squad
- The Power as Carl Melnicker
- The Day of the Owl as Pizzuco
- The Treasure of San Bosco Reef as Captain Malcione
- Panic in the City as August Best
- Escape to Mindanao as Capt. Kramer
- The Treasure of San Bosco Reef as Captain Malcione
1967
- Mannix as Anton Wojeska
- The High Chaparral as Homero José
- The Money Jungle as Lt. Dow Reeves
1966
- Mission: Impossible as Igor Stravos
- Tarzan as Chembe Kunji
- The Time Tunnel as Prof. Anton Biraki
- CBS Playhouse as Dr. Salazar
- Jericho
- The Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones as Skoda
- Too Many Thieves as Georgi
1965
- The Wild Wild West as Major Hazard
- The Big Valley as General Vicente Ruiz
- Honey West as Faustini
- The Legend of Jesse James as El Carnicero
- The Greatest Story Ever Told as Shemiah
1964
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E. as Valandros
- Gilligan's Island
- Fate Is the Hunter as Ben Sawyer
- A Global Affair as Under Secretary Segura
1963
- Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
- Burke's Law as Jason Flonder
- Mr. Novak as Henry Selkirk
- The Hook as Capt. Van Ryn
1962
1961
- Ben Casey
- The New Breed as Louis Morley
- Bus Stop
- The Comancheros as Graile
- The Wonderful World of Disney
- The Big Show as Bruno Everard
1960
1959
- The Twilight Zone as Carl Lanser
- Rawhide as Domingo
- The Untouchables as Jake 'Greasy Thumb' Guzik
- Some Like It Hot as Little Bonaparte
- Startime as Prior Andry
- Mr. Lucky
- Green Mansions as Don Panta
- Day of the Outlaw as Dan, Starret's Foreman
- Al Capone as Johnny Torrio
- Never Steal Anything Small as Pinelli
- For Whom the Bell Tolls as Pablo
- The Killers of Mussolini as Benito Mussolini
1958
- Naked City as Barney Peters
- Shirley Temple's Storybook as Ali Baba
- The Badlanders as Vincente (The Powder Monkey)
1957
- Wagon Train as Tiburcio Mendez
- Men in War as Sgt. Lewis
- This Angry Age as Albert Legros
- Mayerling as Police Officer
- The Death of Manolete as Camera
- Street of Sinners as Leon
1956
- Playhouse 90 as Pablo
- The Wrong Man as Gene Conforti
- The Harder They Fall as Leo
- The Wild Party as Kicks Johnson
1955
- Gunsmoke as Jack Pinto
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Ralph Collins
- Playwrights '56
- The Thief as D'Arnault-Olivier
1954
- Climax! as Lieutenant Cal Nourse
- On the Waterfront as Cab Driver (uncredited)
- The Wonderful World of Disney as Artie Moreno
1953
- The United States Steel Hour as Dr. Arnault / Oliver
- The Motorola Television Hour
- Marty as The Critic
1951
- Hallmark Hall of Fame as Dr. Duchesnes
- Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Jules Dreise
1948
- The Philco Television Playhouse as Ed Kagan