Background

Born in Jerusalem, Persoff immigrated with his family to the United States in 1929. After serving in the Army during World War II, he worked as a subway electrician doing signal maintenance while he began to pursue his acting career in the New York Theater. In 1947, he was accepted into the Actors Studio and eventually began his acting career in 1948.

Acting career

His first notable role was as the gangster boss "Little Bonaparte", a parody of Benito Mussolini in Some Like It Hot from 1959 (he is the last survivor of the credited cast). He appeared in supporting roles in films such as The Greatest Story Ever Told and The Comancheros. In the film Yentl, Persoff portrayed Barbra Streisand's character's father, also the 1988 film Twins and the American Tail (animated-film series) as Papa Mousekewitz. His last movie was 4 Faces, which was the last film to be directed by Ted Post.

His many television credits include Five Fingers ("The Moment of Truth"), 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, Naked City, Route 66 (two episodes), The Legend of Jesse James, Voyage to the Bottom Of The Sea, Gunsmoke, Gilligan's Island (1965), The Wild Wild West, The High Chaparral ("Fiesta" episode, 1970), Hawaii Five-O (7 episodes), Ellery Queen ("The Adventure of the Pharaoh's Curse" episode), Mission: Impossible (3 episodes), Adam-12 ("Vendetta" episode), and The Mod Squad.

In the mid-1980s, when health problems decreased his acting workload, Persoff pursued painting, specializing in watercolor. He retired from acting in 1999 and is devoted full-time to his painting. He currently lives with his wife in Cambria, California.

TV and filmography

• The Naked City (1954) uncredited
• On the Waterfront (1954) as Cab Driver - uncredited
• The Harder They Fall (1956)
• The Wrong Man (1956)
• The Wild Party (1956)
• Mayerling (1957)
• Men in War (1957)
• The Badlanders (1958)
• Never Steal Anything Small (1959)
• Green Mansions (1959)
• Al Capone (1959)
• Some Like It Hot (1959)
• The Untouchables (1959-1963)
• Day of the Outlaw (1959)
• The Twilight Zone (1959 - Judgment Night)
• The Comancheros (1961)
• Thriller (The Fingers Of Fear) (1961)
• The Hook (1963)
• Fate Is the Hunter (1964)
• The Tenderfoot (1964) for Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
• Gilligan's Island (1965) - "The Little Dictator" Season 2, Ep. 3)
• Mr. Novak, as Henry Selkirk in "Enter a Strange Animal" (1965)
• The Time Tunnel, as Prof. Anton Biraki in "Secret Weapon" (1965)
• Gunsmoke (6 episodes) (1965-1975)
• Too Many Thieves (1967)
• Il giorno della civetta (The Day of the Owl) (1968)
• The Power (1968)
• Hawaii Five-O (1968 - Deathwatch)
• The Money Jungle (1968)
• The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969)
• The Mod Squad (1969 - 1972)
• The People Next Door (1970)
• The High Chaparral (1970 - Fiesta)
• Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
• Red Sky at Morning (1971)
• Adam-12 (1972) Angelo Covelli
• Hawaii Five-O (1973 - Will the Real Mr. Winkler Please Die)
• Hawaii Five-O (1975 - Charter for Death)
• The Stranger Within (1974)
• Psychic Killer (1975)
• Barney Miller (1977)
• McCloud (1977)
• Charlie's Angels (1977 - as Anton Metzger in Angels In The Wings)
• Little House on the Prairie (1978)
• Logan's Run (TV series) (1978 - Turnabout)
• Battlestar Galactica (1979)
• Barney Miller (1979)
• The Missiles of October (1974)
• Voyage of the Damned (1976)
• Columbo: Now you see him ... (1976)
• Hunter (episode "The Hit") (1977)
• Quincy, M.E. (1977)
• Hawaii Five-O (1978-79 - Number One with a Bullet, Parts 1 and 2)
• The Rebels (1979)
• The French Atlantic Affair (1979)
• Condominium (1980)
• St. Helens (1981)
• O'Hara's Wife (1982)
• Sadat (1983)
• Yentl (1983)
• An American Tail (1986) Papa Mousekewitz (voice)
• The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
• Twins (1988)
• MacGyver (1989)
• L.A. Law (1990)
• Murder, She Wrote (1990)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation - cameo in "The Most Toys" (1990)
• An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) Papa (voice)
• Doogie Howser, M.D. (1992)
• Reasonable Doubts (1993)
• Law & Order (1993)
• Chicago Hope (1995)
• Tracey Takes On... (1996)
• An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island (1998) Papa (voice)
• An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster (1999) Papa (voice)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]