His father, Shmuel, a silversmith, jeweler and art teacher, decided that his prospects would improve in America and emigrated on his own. His acting career was beginning to take off when, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he was drafted by the U.S. Army for a three-year engagement. Mr. Persoff generously consented to a visit and so, on Wednesday, August 28, 2019, my brother Erwin and I commenced our long drive to his home. Both outlets reported that the actor died Tuesday at a rehabilitation facility in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Persoff was born in Jerusalem in August 1919, according to THR. His most prominent roles included three tenderly caring parents: a Jewish refugee escaping the Nazis and hoping to reunite with his daughter in Havana in the 1976 film Voyage of the Damned; the father of an Orthodox Jewish girl in early-20th-century Poland who poses as a boy so that she can study in a yeshiva, in Barbra Streisands Yentl (1983); and the voice of the father of Fievel Mousekewitz, the Russian Jewish mouse who emigrates to the United States to escape marauding cats, in the 1986 animated feature An American Tail and its sequels. Actor William Reynolds Dies at 90 Due to Pneumonia Complications, L.Q. Born in Jerusalem, Persoff emigrated with his family to the United States in 1929. Nehemiah Persoff, a charter member of the Actors Studio who appeared in dozens of notable films and TV shows, from Some Like It Hot and On the Waterfront to The Twilight Zone and The. 10/30/62), Los Angeles. ", He was the cab driver in the famous "I coulda been a contender . . His big-screen rsum also includedThis Angry Age(1957),Never Steal Anything Small(1959),Green Mansions(1959),The Hook(1963),Fate Is the Hunter(1964),The Greatest Story Ever Told(1965),The People Next Door(1970),Psychic Killer (1975), Martin ScorsesesThe Last Temptation of Christ(1988),Twins(1988) and4 Faces(1999). We've received your submission. He left behind the only friends he knew. Persoff also had various television credits, including The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Gunsmoke, Little House on the Prairie, Hawaii Five-0, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Mission: Impossible and Chicago Hope. FamousBirthdays.com - use subject to the practices disclosed in our privacy policy. He lived in the town of Cambria on the central Californian coast. Nehemiah Persoff, an actor who went from the uncredited role of a cab driver in On The Waterfront's iconic "coulda been a contender" scene to become one of the busiest character actors in television and film . Persoff has popped up with guest roles in countless iconic TV shows like The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Mission: Impossible and Gunsmoke. He has also voiced Papa Mouskewitz, the patriarch of beloved cartoon mouse immigrant Fievel, across the American Tail franchise, spanning four films and multiple video games. Persoff spent most of his fortune visiting the neighborhood movie theater. Persoff received his first film credit in 1948 for his brief role in The Naked City and his second in 1954 for another small role in On the Waterfront. He appeared with Danny DeVito in the 1988 movie Twins. While he may have not been the true star of the show, he still appeared in more than 200 television series, films, and plays in a career spanning over 50 years. When Persoff was 10, his family left Israel and moved to New York, all but shattering the boy. She told me about losing her father at the tender age of two, of her early years in Brooklyn, and so on. Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day. I sat on a milk box with Brando and Steiger behind me. Nehemiah Persoff played Barbra . His most prominent roles included three tenderly caring parents, but he was most associated with the dapper gangsters he portrayed in the movies and on television. His introduction to acting happened by chance: He was asked to perform a walk-on in a play that was the highlight of a Zionist organizations function. August 2 Actor #6. But now [since painting] I see the light dancing on the trees, the light of the water and the rocks. Listening to him, via Zoom, was a JTA reporter, himself 96 years old. Nehemiah Persoff on 'Gilligan's Island' / CBS Persoff starred in a 1965 episode of the show called "The Little Dictator." He was born on August 2nd, 1919, and sadly, his appearanceon Gilligan's Islandwas only a one-off thing. . Actor Nehemiah Persoff, who started out as an uncredited, silent cab driver in the "On the Waterfront" "contender" scene and went on to become a prolific character actor, has died at age 102. The rest of his family was not so fortunate, so when he came home for dinner, he acted out all the parts for an audience consisting of his parents and siblings. Clockwise from top left: "Some Like It Hot," "On The Waterfront," "Red Sky at Morning," "Yentl" and "Playhouse 90" (as Benito Mussolini). Appeared in two films revolving around the life of Christ: Became a naturalized US citizen on 6/25/29. Wind at My Back The Fever. I guess I was born an actor.. Perry Erez Persoff (b. ( divorced). Mr. Persoff was usually cast in small supporting parts, but he often turned them into gems of characterization. Very few actors, living or dead, could claim to have the career of Nehemiah Persoff. In 1947, he was accepted into the Actors Studio and . Two of his lines from that movie are often quoted by film buffs. Nehemiah Persoff, known for his roles in Some Like It Hot, Gunsmoke, An American Tail and various other movies and TV series, died at the age of 102, multiple outlets report. See Nehemiah Persoff full list of movies and tv shows from their career. Everything in life has taken on a completely different look. He does have an impressive number of TV credits as well including The Big Valley (Legend of a General, Parts I & II, episode), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (Heart of Gold episode), The Twilight Zone (Judgment Night), The Untouchables (six episodes), Naked City, Route 66 (two episodes), Seaway (Last Voyage episode, 1965), and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Nehemiah Persoff, a late-blooming actor who built one of the busiest careers in Hollywood, playing rogues, ringleaders, revolutionaries and refugees among other memorable portraits of. Born in Israel #30. There is one Gilligans Island star who is still alive and over 100 years old. He was a durable performer during TV's "Golden Age" (Gunsmoke (1955), The Twilight Zone (1959)) and well beyond (Chicago Hope (1994), Law & Order (1990)), playing hundreds of intense, volatile and dominating characters. I do hope it was worth the effort., Nehemiah Persoff has hundreds of screen credits from classic Hollywood films and TV shows. Nehemiah Persoff was a Jewish-American actor who worked frequently as an actor in the 40s, 50s and 60s, appearing in more than 200 television series, films, and plays in a career spanning over 50 years, beginning after World War II. Later stage work included well-received productions of "I'm Not Rappaport" and his biographical one-man show "Sholem Aleichem".After declining health and high blood pressure forced him to slow down, Persoff took up painting in 1985, studying sketching in Los Angeles. After an extensive make-up job, but not a single line of dialogue, Persoff walked on the stage. Birth Place: Jerusalem, Israel Country: United States. Nehemiah Persoff (born August 2, 1919) is a retired American actor. What did he say? another replied, Sha, the boy is from Jerusalem, this is the real Hevreet from Yerushalayim.. Short, dark, chunky-framed and with a distinct talent for dialects, Persoff became known primarily for his ethnic villainy, usually playing authoritative Eastern Europeans. The audience, recognizing the actor as Marx, burst into a 10-minute long ovation. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. King Lear (Dec 25, 1950 - Feb 03, 1951) Performer: Nehemiah Persoff [Duke of Cornwall] PlayTragedyRevival. Born In 1919. Before we get into that, lets make it clear that the only main cast member who is still alive is Tina Louise at an impressive 87 years old, who played Ginger Grant on the beloved TV show. Nehemiah Persoff, who appeared as Barbra Streisand's rabbi father in "Yentl" and had roles in hundreds of films and TV series including " Some Like It Hot " and "Twins," died Tuesday in San. His acting career was beginning to take off when, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he was drafted by the U.S. Army for a three-year engagement. Nehemiah Persoff, Jewish character actor who played over 200 roles, dies at 102 Persoff was adept at portraying gangsters and other assorted no-goodniks in classics such as 'Some Like It Hot'. When actor, painter and writer Nehemiah Persoff, at times dubbed "the last survivor of Hollywood's golden age," was a 3 year old growing up in Jerusalem, he fell in love with his kindergarten teacher. Yet he was most associated with the dapper gangsters he portrayed in the movies and on television. Jan 5, 2023 20:16:02 GMT -5. Born in Jerusalem and immigrated to the United States in 1929, he is the second oldest living actor and the other Hollywood centenarian. Discovered by Charles Laughton and cast in his production of "Galileo" in 1947, Persoff made his film debut a year later with an uncredited bit in The Naked City (1948).Short, dark, chunky-framed and with a distinct talent for dialects, Persoff became known primarily for his ethnic villainy, usually playing authoritative Eastern Europeans.In a formidable career which had him portraying everything from cab drivers to Iosif Stalin, standout film roles would include Leo in The Harder They Fall (1956) with Humphrey Bogart, Gene Conforti in Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1956), Albert in The Sea Wall (1957) and gangster Johnny Torrio in Al Capone (1959). Thia Persoff was born on October 1, 1930 and is 90 years old now. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. The legendary producer of 1961's West Side Story and 1959's Some . In 1956, Persoff appeared in three different films, including Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man. Dan Deckel Persoff (b. Im not running down the joys I had in my life, he writes. After moving to Cambria, he became acquainted with a group of painters and has shown considerable talent and has found peace in his new art form. Desperate to attract her attention, little Nehemiah got on his trike and rode it in smaller and smaller circles until the trike and its rider fell over. He was 102. Following schooling at the Hebrew Technical Institute of New York, he found a job as a subway electrician doing signal maintenance until an interest in the theater altered the direction of his life. (TV star Suzanne Somers appeared on the last page of the story.) When Barbra Streisand sang the Oscar-nominated song "Papa, . He also is survived by his grandchildren, Bridget, Stacey, Joey, Michelle and Jacqueline. Almost 30 years ago, Persoff quit acting after suffering a minor stroke and found it almost impossible to stand on his feet for any length of time. If I'm playing a good guy, I'll try to show that he has some bad in him. Thanks for contacting us. I was in heaven., Nearly a century later, the now-102-year old reminisced, I learned then that I could make people believe my exaggerations and make fiction accepted as truth. Born in 1919 in Jerusalem, Nehemiah Persoff emigrated with his family to America in 1929. Dahlia Persoff (b. I double-talked the rest, thinking that chances are the people did not understand Hebrew. When someone in the congregation asked, What? , money, salary, income, and assets. The great character actor Nehemiah Persoff, whose many roles included the mobster 'Little Bonaparte' in Some Like It Hot, has died at the grand old age of 102. I am still unhappy that I didnt go., View From My Window, an original painting by Nehemiah Persoff, was painted by the actor in 2016, when he was 97. Renowned TV and film actor Nehemiah Persoff, known for "The Twilight Zone," "Gunsmoke," and more, is dead at 102 years old. When you are turned down as an actor, it's not only your talent that's in question, but your entire being: your looks, face, hair, the way you speak, your personality, ethnicity, everything about you. Nehemiah Persoff is an American actor. The fledgling actor went on to appear in a smorgasbord of iconic TV series of the decade, including Goodyear Playhouse, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Playhouse 90 and The Twilight Zone. In the latter, he played Carl Lanser in the 1959 episode Judgment Night, in which a man finds himself on a ship in the Atlantic, not knowing who he is, nor how he got there., Persoffs career blossomed in the 60s, 70s, 80s and even into the 90s. His final screen role to date was in HBOs 2003 adaptation of Angels in America, playing a rabbi. (He got $75 for that gig. Among the latter, he cited the time he played the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and started acting like him at home, ordering his family around and barking at the children. Following schooling at the Hebrew Technical Institute of New York, he found a job as a subway electrician doing signal maintenance until an interest in the theater altered the direction of his life. . ( divorced) to add information, pictures and relationships, join in discussions and . His road to stardom began in 1947 when Persoff was discovered byCharles Laughtonand cast in his production of Galileo. A year later, Persoff made his film debut inThe Naked City(1948), following it up with an uncredited role as a silent cabbie in the seminal film On The Waterfront (1954). Nehemiah Persoff, a late-blooming actor who built one of the busiest careers in Hollywood, playing rogues, ringleaders, revolutionaries and refugees - among other memorable portraits of. The rest of his family was not so fortunate, so when he came home for dinner, he acted out all the parts for an audience consisting of his parents and siblings. I was in heaven., Nearly a century later, the now-102-year old reminisced, I learned then that I could make people believe my exaggerations and make fiction accepted as truth. The cause was heart failure, his grandson, Joey Persoff, said. That same year he played another gangster, the small role of Little Bonaparte, in Some Like It Hot (1959).He was a durable performer during TV's "Golden Age" (Gunsmoke (1955), The Twilight Zone (1959)) and well beyond (Chicago Hope (1994), Law & Order (1990)), playing hundreds of intense, volatile and dominating characters.In later years, his characters grew a bit softer as Barbra Streisand's Jewish father in Yentl (1983) and the voice of Papa Mousekewitz in the An American Tail (1986) will attest. Nehemiah attended the Hebrew Technical Institute to study the electricians trade, and his first job was as a signal maintenance worker on the old IND subway line. Born in 1919 #7. In a formidable career that had him portraying everything from cab drivers to Joseph Stalin, standout film roles would include Leo in The Harder They Fall (1956) with Humphrey Bogart, Gene Conforti in Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1956), Albert in This Angry Age (1957) and gangster Johnny Torrio in Al Capone (1959). As he related in a memoir even as a three year old in Jerusalem, he realized that . She said, Lets read,' he recalled in a 2008 interview forFilmsof the Golden Age. Persoff has popped up with guest roles in countless iconic TV shows like The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Mission: Impossible and Gunsmoke. He has also voiced Papa Mouskewitz, the patriarch of beloved cartoon mouse immigrant Fievel, across the American Tail franchise, spanning four films and multiple video games. According to his IMDb, he had begun acting in 1948 all the way through 2003. 'The F.B.I.' Peter Pan (Apr 24, 1950 - Jan 27, 1951) Performer: Nehemiah Persoff [Cecco . 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