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...as Palor Toff
Nehemiah Persoff (born August 2, 1919) is the actor who played Palor Toff in the Next Generation episode "The Most Toys".
During his early career, Persoff became well-known for his villainous, tough guy roles such as gangsters. He had a recurring role as gangster Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik on TV's The Untouchables and also played a gangster role in the 1959 biopic Al Capone. He even had a small role as a gangster in the classic 1959 comedy Some Like It Hot. His prior film credits included The Harder They Fall and Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man, both released in 1956.
He also co-starred in the 1961 western adventure The Comancheros. Veteran Trek guest star Michael Ansara also had a role in this film. Persoff and Ansara were also a part of the extensive ensemble cast of the 1964 biblical epic The Greatest Story Ever Told, as was Mark Lenard (Sarek).
Persoff has more recently become known for more light-hearted characters, such as Yentl's "Papa" in 1983's Yentl and as the voice of Papa Mousekewitz in the 1986 animated film An American Tail and its sequels. (Christopher Plummer was also a voice on An American Tail; Rene Auberjonois, Tony Jay, and Ron Perlman voiced in one of the direct-to-video sequels.)
Persoff's other feature films include Voyage of the Damned (1976, with Malcolm McDowell) and Twins (1988, with Tony Jay). Besides his appearance on The Next Generation, Persoff has appeared on numerous other TV programs, including Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, Mission: Impossible, Hawaii Five-O, and Fantasy Island (starring Ricardo Montalban).
One of Persoff's earliest film appearances was as the obscure cab driver during Marlon Brando's classic "I coulda been a contender" scene in 1954's On the Waterfront.
Due to a series of health issues, Persoff was forced to retire from acting for the most part in the 1980s. He has since taken up painting, and has created many pieces of art.
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