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

• Angels in America — Rabbi (uncredited)
• 20014 Faces
• 1999An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster — Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
• 1998An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island — Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
• Chicago Hope — Rabbi Ben Taubler
• 1991An American Tail: Fievel Goes West — Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
• Law & Order — David Steinmetz
• Doogie Howser, M.D. — Max Wernick
• 1988The Last Temptation of Christ — Rabbi
• 1988Twins — Mitchell Traven
• J.J. Starbuck
• Star Trek: The Next Generation — Toff
• 1986An American Tail — Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
• L.A. Law — Rabbi Isadore Glickman
• MacGyver — Sam Bolinski
• Highway to Heaven
• Hunter — Harold Goodman
• Murder, She Wrote — Constantin Stavros
• Scarecrow and Mrs. King
• 1983Yentl — Rebbe Mendel
• American Playhouse — Marcus Hoff
• Hotel
• 1982O'Hara's Wife — Dr. Fischer
• 1982St. Helens — Mr. Ellison
• B.A.D. Cats
• Condominium — Conlaw
• 1980F.D.R.: The Last Year — Josef Stalin
• Magnum, P.I. — Rabbi Asher Solomon
• 1980The Henderson Monster — Prof. Leo Tedeschi
• 1980Turnover Smith — Ashmed Amad
• 1979A Cry for Justice — Dr. Burke
• 1979In Search of Historic Jesus — Herod Antipas
• Supertrain — Max
• The Facts of Life
• The French Atlantic Affair — Col. Schreiner
• The Rebels — Baron Von Steuben
• 1978A Double Life
• Battlestar Galactica — Eastern Alliance Leader
• 1978Daniel in the Lions' Den — Malimar
• Fantasy Island — Horst Von Stern
• 1978Killing Stone — Earl Stone
• 1978The Making of a President
• The Word — Abbot Petropolous
• Vega$
• 1978Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women — Charles Frohman
• 1977Deadly Harvest — Mort Logan
• Hunter — Sheik Farakbi
• Logan's Run — ASA
• The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries — Vladimir
• Charlie's Angels — Anton
• 1976Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident — Rudenko
• McNaughton's Daughter — Vinnie Laine
• Quincy, M.E.
• Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II — Charles Dietrich
• The Bionic Woman
• 1976Voyage of the Damned — Herr Hauser
• Baretta
• Barney Miller — Carl Simms, Yacov Berger
• Ellery Queen
• 1975Eric — Dr. Duchesnes
• 1975Psychic Killer — Doctor Gubner
• The Invisible Man — Dr. Leon Barnard
• Wonder Woman — Professor Moreno
• Little House on the Prairie — Mr. Olaf Lundstrom
• 1974The Sex Symbol — Nick Fortis
• The Six Million Dollar Man — Major Popov
• 1974The Stranger Within — Dr. Edward Klein
• 1973Dracula — Dr. Van Helsing
• Police Story
• Purple Playhouse — Dr. Van Helsing
• Cool Million — Karinakis
• 1972Lapin 360
• 1972Lieutenant Schuster's Wife — Champagne Joe Carroll
• 1972Michael O'Hara the Fourth — Artie Moreno
• Search
• The Streets of San Francisco
• Columbo — Jesse Jerome
• McMillan & Wife — Clementa Habib
• 1971Mrs. Pollifax — Spy — Berisha
• 1971Red Sky at Morning — Amadeo Montoya
• The Chicago Teddy Bears
• 1970Cutter's Trail — Santillo
• Dan August — Leo Cussoni
• McCloud — Perry Cicero
• 1970The People Next Door — Dr. Salazar
• Hawaii Five-O — Harry Cardonus, Winkler, Leo Paoli, Cordell, Victor Palua, Allie Francis
• Love, American Style — Mr. Stone
• Marcus Welby, M.D. — Max Behrman, Nick Kolinski
• The Bill Cosby Show — Mr. Byron
• 1969The Girl Who Knew Too Much — Lieutenant Crawford
• Adam-12 — Angelo Covelli
• 1968Escape to Mindanao — Capt. Kramer
• It Takes a Thief — Harry Lavender
• Land of the Giants — Titus
• 1968Panic in the City — August Best
• 1968The Day of the Owl — Pizzuco
• The Mod Squad — Nick Master
• The Name of the Game — Ambassador
• 1968The Power — Carl Melnicker
• 1968The Treasure of San Bosco Reef — Captain Malcione
• The Treasure of San Bosco Reef — Captain Malcione
• Mannix — Anton Wojeska
• The High Chaparral — Homero José
• 1967The Money Jungle — Lt. Dow Reeves
• CBS Playhouse — Dr. Salazar
• Jericho
• Mission: Impossible — Igor Stravos, Phillipe Pereda, Prince Iben Kostas
• Tarzan — Chembe Kunji
• 1966The Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones — Skoda
• The Time Tunnel — Prof. Anton Biraki
• 1966Too Many Thieves — Georgi
• Honey West — Faustini
• The Big Valley — General Vicente Ruiz
• 1965The Greatest Story Ever Told — Shemiah
• The Legend of Jesse James — El Carnicero
• The Wild Wild West — Major Hazard, Gen. Andreas Cassinello
• 1964A Global Affair — Under Secretary Segura
• 1964Fate Is the Hunter — Ben Sawyer
• Gilligan's Island
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. — Valandros
• Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre — Alverian
• Burke's Law — Jason Flonder, Albert Indigo, 'Mr. I', Wilhelm Kasimer
• Mr. Novak — Henry Selkirk
• 1963The Hook — Capt. Van Ryn
• Sam Benedict
• Ben Casey
• Bus Stop
• 1961The Big Show — Bruno Everard
• 1961The Comancheros — Graile
• The New Breed — Louis Morley
• The Wonderful World of Disney
• Route 66
• 1959Al Capone — Johnny Torrio
• 1959Day of the Outlaw — Dan, Starret's Foreman
• 1959For Whom the Bell Tolls — Pablo
• 1959Green Mansions — Don Panta
• Mr. Lucky
• 1959Never Steal Anything Small — Pinelli
• Rawhide — Domingo, Michob
• 1959Some Like It Hot — Little Bonaparte
• Startime — Prior Andry
• 1959The Killers of Mussolini — Benito Mussolini
• The Twilight Zone — Carl Lanser
• The Untouchables — Jake 'Greasy Thumb' Guzik, Johnny Fortunato, Waxey Gordon
• Naked City — Barney Peters, Carlos Ruldan, Max Evar, Dominic Venussi, Berco Romanu, Merritt Griffin
• Shirley Temple's Storybook — Ali Baba
• 1958The Badlanders — Vincente (The Powder Monkey)
• 1957Mayerling — Police Officer
• 1957Men in War — Sgt. Lewis
• 1957Street of Sinners — Leon
• 1957The Death of Manolete — Camera
• 1957This Angry Age — Albert Legros
• Wagon Train — Tiburcio Mendez
• Playhouse 90 — Pablo, Prisoners Father
• 1956The Harder They Fall — Leo
• 1956The Wild Party — Kicks Johnson
• 1956The Wrong Man — Gene Conforti
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents — Ralph Collins, Jeff Jensen
• Gunsmoke — Jack Pinto, Mr. Dano, Alex Skouras, Driscoll, Ben Rando, Alejo Etchahoun
• Playwrights '56
• 1955The Thief — D'Arnault-Olivier
• Climax! — Lieutenant Cal Nourse
• 1954On the Waterfront — Cab Driver (uncredited)
• The Wonderful World of Disney — Artie Moreno
• 1953Marty — The Critic
• The Motorola Television Hour
• The United States Steel Hour — Dr. Arnault / Oliver
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Dr. Duchesnes
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars — Jules Dreise
• Armstrong Circle Theatre
• The Philco Television Playhouse — Ed Kagan

Appearances as themselves (2)

• 2022Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story — Self - Interviewee
• 2012Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom — Self