
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.

Some Like It Hot
1959 · as Little Bonaparte

An American Tail
1986 · as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)

Twins
1988 · as Mitchell Traven

On the Waterfront
1954 · as Cab Driver (uncredited)

The Last Temptation of Christ
1988 · as Rabbi

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
1991 · as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)

The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965 · as Shemiah

Voyage of the Damned
1976 · as Herr Hauser

The Wrong Man
1956 · as Gene Conforti

The Power
1968 · as Prof. Carl Melnicker

An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island
1998 · as Papa Mousekewitz (voice)

Green Mansions
1959 · as Don Panta

The Comancheros
1961 · as Graile

Al Capone
1959 · as Johnny Torrio

The Harder They Fall
1956 · as Leo

Yentl
1983 · as Rebbe Mendel

The Badlanders
1958 · as Vincente (The Powder Monkey)

O'Hara's Wife
1982 · as Dr. Fischer