Nehemiah Persoff was an American actor and painter.
Nehemiah Persoff appeared in more than 200 television series, films, and plays in a career spanning over 50 years, beginning after World War II.
Among Nehemiah Persoff’s early film roles was the driver during the I coulda been a contender scene in On the Waterfront (1954), Leo the accountant in The Harder They Fall with Humphrey Bogart and Rod Steiger (1956), and the gangster boss Little Bonaparte, a parody of Little Caesar[7] in Billy Wilder’s film classic Some Like It Hot (1959), and he appeared again with Steiger in Al Capone (1959).
Nehemiah Persoff also appeared in supporting roles in films such as The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and The Comancheros (1961).
In the film Yentl (1983), Nehemiah Persoff portrayed the father of Barbra Streisand’s character.
Nehemiah Persoff then appeared in the comedy film Twins (1988) and in the American Tail animated-film series as Papa Mousekewitz.
Nehemiah Persoff’s last movie was 4 Faces (1999), the last film to be directed by Ted Post.
Nehemiah Persoff retired from acting in 1999 and pursued painting, specialising in watercolours and prior to his death, lived in Cambria, California.
Nehemiah Persoff died on April 6, 2022 at the age of 102 from pneumonia.