Nehemiah Persoff – 101
One of the few Palestine-born actors, Nehemiah was reasonably popular back in the 50’s and 60’s. His first credited role was in 1956’s The Harder They Fall. His landmark role was as Papa on ‘Yentl’ which starred Barbra Streisand. It was his decline in health that reduced his acting workload and when his workload decreased he spent more time on painting, specialing in watercolour art. Since his retirement from the industry in 1999, Nehemiah has taken up painting full-time as he closes in on the big 100. He lives in California with his wife and four children.