The Legion of "Hey, It's That Guy!" Character Actors loses another one.
From Deadline: "Nehemiah Persoff Dies: Prolific Actor of ‘Yentl’, ‘The Twilight Zone’, ‘Gunsmoke’ & Many More Was 102"
The man was on practically every TV show you could name during the 1960s, '70s, '80s and '90s.
Persoff also was a member of what might be called "The Barney Miller Repertory Company", which included Don Calfa, Florence Halop, Richard Libertini, Alex Henteloff, Peggy Pope, Bruce Kirby, Walter Olkewicz, Val Bisoglio and others.
Replies
Ah, what a shame.
"Prolific Actor... Was 102"
Holy smoke! Yep, I know "that guy."
Hey, it’s that guy!
Yep, I surely knew that guy’s face. But until now, I never knew his name.
My first memory of seeing him was in an episode of Gilligan's Island, but from looking up his filmography, it seems to me that if you watched TV at all regularly in the U.S.A. from about 1950 to about 1995, you'd have had to work hard not to have seen him in something.
Doctor Hmmm? said:
The Baron said:
..... if you watched TV at all regularly in the U.S.A. from about 1950 to about 1995, you'd have had to work hard not to have seen him in something.
.....or many horror movies
Mr. Persoff had always fascinated me simply because of his longevity, not just of his life, but of his career. In fact, about two weeks ago, the Good Mrs. Benson and I were watching an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents from 1958 in which he appeared. I pointed to the screen and said, "Would believe that fellow is still alive? He's 102." He never gave a bad performance. In fact, he was simply riveting to watch on screen.
As many of you have said, he was all over television. I don't think I'd lose much by wagering if you took any issue of TV Guide between 1960 and 1980---any issue---and checked the line-up for that week, he was appearing in at least one programme. As best I can recall, he was never a regular cast member of any series, but he probably logged more weekly appearances than 95% of those who were.