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Top 10 Amazing Facts about Nehemiah Persoff

Nehemiah Persoff with fellow actors. Photo from

Nehemiah Persoff was born on 2nd August 1919.  He was a character actor and painter from the United States.

He appeared in over 200 television series, films, and theater productions. His career began after his service in the United States Army during World War II.

Persoff’s first role was as an extra in The Naked City (1948). He is best known for his performances as Leo in The Harder They Fall (1956). He also appeared on The Twilight Zone, Gilligan’s Island, Hawaii Five-0, and Law & Order.

1. Nehemiah Persoff  moved to New York

Persoff was born in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine, to Puah and Shmuel Persoff. His father, a silversmith, jeweler, and art teacher, decided that there were better opportunities in the United States and emigrated on his own at first.

It took another six years for him to be financially secure enough to bring over his wife, three sons, Boaz, Avraham, and Nehemiah, and two daughters, Tamar and Geula.

The family first lived in an apartment in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood before relocating to the Bronx. His parents later moved back to Israel.

2. Nehemiah Persoff lands a scholarship 

His first job was at a motor repair shop, and he quickly increased his pay to a princely $35 per week after landing a job as a New York subway electrician.

Persoff spent the majority of his money at the local movie theater. Because the rest of his family was not so fortunate, when he came home for dinner, he acted out all the parts in front of his parents and siblings.

Persoff, who had caught the acting bug, received a scholarship to the New Theatre acting school thanks to the intervention of a girlfriend. His first appearance was as a walk-on as Karl Marx in a show primarily attended by Communist Party members.

3. Nehemiah Persoff served the US Army

Persoff was drafted into the US Army during WWII and tasked with forming an acting company to entertain the soldiers around the world. Following the war, he began his television career and later performed onstage in Israel to reconnect with his Israeli roots.

He also appeared in films such as The Comancheros (1961)and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1961).

4. Persoff’s Broadway debut

Nehemiah Persoff with fellow actors. Photo from

Persoff returned to acting after his military service, making his Broadway debut in Galileo in December 1947. This production also featured Warren Stevens. Persoff appeared in his second Broadway play, Sundown Beach. The following year, again collaborating with Warren Stevens.

Persoff collaborated with fellow Star Trek alumni in his next four Broadway productions: Ray Walston in William Shakespeare’s King Richard III in 1949, Stefan Gierasch in Montserrat in 1949, William Marshall in a revival of Peter Pan in 1950, and Sam Gilman and Arnold Moss in Shakespeare’s King Lear from December 1950 to February 1951.

Persoff collaborated with William Windom on the play Mademoiselle Colombe in 1954. Later that year, he co-starred in Reclining Figure with Georgann Johnson and David Opatoshu.

In 1956, Persoff was a member of the original cast of the Tony Award-nominated play Tiger at the Gates. Only in America, his final Broadway production, opened in 1959.

5. Persoff early film roles

Among his early film roles were the taxi driver in Brando’s “I Coulda Been a Candidate” scene in On the Waterfront (1954), Leo the accountant in The Harder They Fall (1956) with Humphrey Bogart and Rod Steiger, and the gangster boss Little Bonaparte (a parody of Rico/Little Caesar) in Billy Wilder’s film Some Like It Hot (1959), and (also 1959).

6. Persoff has made TV appearances

Nehemiah Persoff with fellow actors. Photo from

Since 1949, Persoff has made over 200 television appearances. His most famous TV role was as mobster Jake “Greasy Thumb” Guzik in three episodes of the popular CBS series The Untouchables, which was produced by Desilu, like Star Trek.

He first appeared as Guzik in 1959 and reprised the role in 1961. Persoff appeared in three more episodes of The Untouchables, each portraying a different character. Madlyn Rhue appeared in one episode, and Michael Strong appeared in another.

Persoff also appeared in several episodes of Gunsmoke, three episodes of The Wild Wild West, and three episodes of Mission: Impossible. Persoff played a prince in the first episode of Mission: Impossible, “Odds of Evil,” while Lawrence Montaigne played his aide. He collaborated with David Opatoshu on his third episode, “Fool’s Gold.” Leonard Nimoy, star of Star Trek: The Original Series, was a regular on Mission: Impossible at the time; Persoff had previously worked with Nimoy on the western series Wagon Train.

Persoff appeared as a concentration camp survivor in the sixth season episode “Concentration” as one of several Star Trek guest stars in the 1980s series The Facts of Life. William Windom, Kenneth Tigar, Roger Perry, Paul Comi, Clyde Kusatsu, Clive Revill, Eve Smith, Nicholas Coster, Robert Hooks, and Ian Wolfe were among the other Star Trek actors who appeared in the series. Armin Shimerman, the show’s lead actor, also made a brief appearance in the seventh season premiere episode.

7. Persoff retired after suffering a stroke

Persoff retired from acting after suffering a minor stroke that left him unable to stand for long periods of time. His final screen appearance was as a rabbi in HBO’s 2003 adaptation of “Angels in America.”

Persoff’s heavy load of anxieties and tensions was lifted as a result of that life change. Among the latter was a time when he dressed up as Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and began acting like him at home, ordering his family around and barking at the kids.

Persoff’s final impetus to change his ways came when he spent a significant amount of time, effort, and money putting on a one-man show in San Diego. He rented a 200-seat theater, but only 11 seats were filled on opening night.

8. Nehemiah Persoff was a painter

Nehemiah Persoff with fellow actors. Photo from

He met a group of painters after moving to Cambria and has demonstrated considerable talent — and found peace — in his new art form.

He has completed approximately 250 watercolors, which have received widespread acclaim and sales.

9. Nehemiah Persoff was also known as Nick Perry

Nehemiah Persoff’s signature. Photo by Nehemiah Persoff.

He was afraid that his Jewish name would alienate some prejudiced people. He worked under the name “Nick Perry” in his early career.

10. Nehemiah Persoff died at the age of 102

He died from heart failure in his hometown in California, at the age of 102.