Nehemiah Persoff, prolific actor and Star Trek guest in "The Most Toys", has passed away at 102

Nehemiah Person as Palor Toff in Star Trek: The Next Generation “The Most Toys”

APRIL 7, 2022 - The world lost a gifted and prolific actor this week. Star Trek: The Next Generation guest actor Nehemiah Persoff passed away April 5th at the age of 102. Variety reported the actor’s death, which was confirmed by Persoff’s daughter Dahlia Reano.

Born August 2, 1919, Nehemiah Persoff worked as an electrician until trying his hand at acting in the 1940s. With a definite knack for the craft, Persoff found success on both stage and screen. He appeared in more than a dozen Broadway shows, and has more than 200 film and television credits listed on IMDb. During Persoff’s 56-year acting career, he appeared in nearly every television show you can think of. He was seen in episodes of The Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Law and Order, MacGyver, Wonder Woman, Battlestar Galactica, Murder She Wrote, The Facts of Life, and - of course - Star Trek: The Next Generation. In 1990, Persoff appeared as the collector Palor Toff in “The Most Toys” alongside fellow guest actor Saul Rubinek.

Persoff wasn’t just known for his television appearances. He also had a successful career in feature films, making a splash on the big screen with his first credited role in the 1956 Humphrey Bogart-led The Harder They Fall. Persoff went on to roles in numerous movies, including Some Like it Hot, Alfred Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man, Yentl, and Twins. Persoff also voiced the role of Papa Mousekowitz in the animated classic An American Tail, as well as two of the franchise’s sequels.

Later in his life and career, Persoff took to the stage once again with leading roles in Man of La Mancha, Death of a Salesman, Fiddler on the Roof, and Oliver. Eventually, he left acting and began to pursue another passion - painting. At 101, Persoff published The Many Faces of Nehemiah, a memoir. Reflecting on his acting career, he wrote, “Acting is an art, on stage or screen. It’s a distillation of certain moments in life, but it’s not life itself.”

Nehemiah Persoff is survived by his four children and five grandchildren. To learn more about this fascinating actor, read the full report from Variety, and be sure to check out his IMDb page to see a full list of film and television credits.