Nehemiah Persoff Nehemiah Persoff is a retired American actor who played Palor Toff in the episode . Persoff has amassed a career consisting of well over 200 film and television appearances . Early in his career , he became well - known for playing villainous , tough guy roles such as mobsters and gangsters , such as those in the classic films " The Wrong Man " , " Al Capone " , and " Some Like It Hot " . Most notably , he had a recurring role as gangster Jake ' Greasy Thumb ' Guzik on the Desilu series " The Untouchables " . Since then , however , Persoff has become known for playing kinder , gentler roles . His most notable of such roles were a pair of " Papa " characters in two different films from the 1980s : Rabi Reb Mendel , Yentl ' s father , in the 1983 musical drama " Yentl " ; and Papa Mouskewitz in the 1986 animated film " An American Tail " and its sequels . Early life and career . Persoff was born in Jerusalem , Palestine ( now Israel ) and emigrated to America with his family in 1929 . He won a scholarship to the Dramatic Workshop in New York , which led to his New York stage debut in a 1940 production of " The Emperor ' s New Clothes " . A veteran of World War II , Persoff served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946 before being discharged as a Technician 5th Grade . Broadway . Following his military service , Persoff returned to his acting career , making his Broadway debut in " Galileo " in December 1947 . Warren Stevens also performed in this production . The following year , Persoff appeared in his second Broadway play , " Sundown Beach " , again working with Warren Stevens . Persoff worked with fellow " Star Trek " alumni in his next four Broadway plays : Ray Walston in a 1949 production of William Shakespeare ' s " King Richard III " ; Stefan Gierasch in " Montserrat " , also in 1949 ; William Marshall in a revival of " Peter Pan " in 1950 ; and Sam Gilman and Arnold Moss in Shakespeare ' s " King Lear " from December 1950 through February 1951 . In 1954 , Persoff worked with William Windom in the play " Mademoiselle Colombe " . Later that year , he acted with Georgann Johnson and David Opatoshu in " Reclining Figure " . Persoff was then part of the original cast of the Tony Award - nominated play " Tiger at the Gates " in 1956 . His last Broadway production was " Only in America " in 1959 . Films . Persoff made his film debut in the 1948 " noir " classic " The Naked City " . His second film role was the obscure cab driver during Marlon Brando ' s classic " " I coulda been a contender " " scene in 1954 ' s " On the Waterfront " . Persoff made his first credited film appearance in 1956 ' s " The Harder They Fall " . He acted alongside Jay Robinson in the 1956 crime drama " The Wild Party " . That same year , Persoff was seen in Alfred Hitchcock ' s " noir " classic " The Wrong Man " , along with Charles Cooper . Persoff then co - starred with Phillip Pine and Scott Marlowe in the 1957 drama " Men in War " . In 1958 ' s " The Badlanders " , Pursoff worked with Anthony Caruso . Persoff played a mobster Johnny Torrio in the 1959 biopic " Al Capone " , which also starred James Gregory . Later that year , Persoff and Elisha Cook , Jr . , appeared in the western " Day of the Outlaw " . In addition , Persoff played a gangster in the acclaimed 1959 comedy " Some Like It Hot " . He co - starred in the 1961 western adventure " The Comancheros " , along with veteran " Trek " guest star Michael Ansara had a role in this film . Persoff and Ansara were also a part of the extensive ensemble cast of the 1965 biblical epic " The Greatest Story Ever Told " , as was Mark Lenard . In the 1963 psychological war drama " The Hook " , Persoff worked alongside Robert Walker . Persoff ' s subsequent films during the 1960s included " Fate Is the Hunter " ( 1964 ) , " The Power " ( 1968 , with Celia Lovsky and Lawrence Montaigne ) , " Panic in the City " ( 1968 , with John Hoyt ) , and " The Money Jungle " ( 1968 , with Leslie Parrish ) . Television . Persoff has made over two hundred television guest appearances since 1949 . His most famous TV role is that of mobster Jake " Greasy Thumb " Guzik in three episodes of the popular CBS series " The Untouchables " , which , like " Star Trek " , was produced by Desilu . He made his first appearance as Guzik in 1959 and reprised the role in 1961 ( in an episode with Joseph Ruskin ) and 1962 ( in an episode with Barry Russo and Malachi Throne ) . Persoff appeared in three other episodes of " The Untouchables " , playing a different character in each . One episode co - starred Madlyn Rhue ; another co - starred Michael Strong . Persoff has also guest - starred in multiple episodes of " Gunsmoke " ( including one directed by Vincent McEveety , one with Anthony Zerbe , one with Robert DoQui ) , three episodes of " The Wild Wild West " ( including one with " Al Capone " co - star James Gregory and another with Jeff Corey and Sabrina Scharf ) and three episodes of " Mission : Impossible " . In his first episode of " Mission : Impossible " , " Odds of Evil , " Persoff played a prince while Lawrence Montaigne played his aide . In his third episode , " Fool ' s Gold , " Persoff worked with David Opatoshu . At that point , star Leonard Nimoy was a regular on " Mission : Impossible " ; Persoff previously worked with Nimoy on the western series " Wagon Train " . Herschel Daugherty directed Persoff in a 1960 episode of " Alfred Hitchock Presents " and in a 1969 episode of " Hawaii Five - O " , a series Persoff returned to many times in the 1970s . In 1964 , Persoff appeared with Jane Wyatt on " Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre " . The following year , Persoff guest - starred on " For the People " , the series William Shatner starred in before he joined " Star Trek " . Other television series on which Persoff has appeared include " Naked City " ( narrated by Lawrence Dobkin ) , " Thriller " ( in an episode with Sam Gilman ) , " Rawhide " ( two episodes , including one with William Schallert ) , " Burke ' s Law " ( one episode , including one with Nancy Kovack ) , " Ben Casey " ( with the aforementioned Michael Ansara ) , " I Spy " ( two episodes , including one with Elisha Cook , Jr . , " The Big Valley " ( with John Hoyt and Rudy Solari ) , " The Time Tunnel " ( starring Michael Ansara , Whit Bissell , James Darren , and Lee Meriwether ) , " The Man from U . N . C . L . E . " ( with the aforementioned Leslie Parrish ) , " Land of the Giants " ( starring Don Marshall and featuring Peter Canon ) , and " The Mod Squad " ( starring Tige Andrews and Clarence Williams III ) . Later life and career . 1970s . Persoff continued making frequent appearances on television throughout the 1970s . Some of the series on which he guest - starred during this decade were " The High Chaparral " ( which starred Henry Darrow ) , " Adam - 12 " ( with Peter Brocco ) , " McCloud " ( starring Diana Muldaur ) , " The Hit " ( with Marc Alaimo and Andrew Prine ) , " Quincy , M . E . " ( directed by Corey Allen ) , and " Fantasy Island " ( starring Ricardo Montalban ) . He also appeared in many episodes of the action / crime drama " Hawaii Five - O " , during which time he worked with fellow " Trek " performers James Darren , Mark Lenard , Amanda McBroom , Barry Russo , Malachi Throne , and Brian Tochi ; Michael O ' Herlihy directed two of Persoff ' s episodes . Persoff was a regular on the short - lived 1978 Canadian soap opera " High Hopes " . Bruce Gray headlined the cast of this series , which also included Granville Van Dusen . In addition to his episodic TV credits , Persoff had supporting roles in a number of made - for - TV movies in the 1970s . In the 1974 suspense drama " The Missiles of October " , Persoff portrayed Soviet Foreign Minister , while Keene Curtis , Paul Lambert , Byron Morrow , Stewart Moss , Kenneth Tobey , and Harris Yulin also had roles in this movie . That same year , Persoff and Madlyn Rhue were seen in the TV drama " The Sex Symbol " . In 1975 , Persoff worked with John Savage in the TV drama movie " Eric " . This movie was directed by James Goldstone , who had previously directed Persoff , John Colicos , and Gregory Sierra in the 1971 film " Red Sky at Morning " . Persoff ' s other feature film credits during this decade included the 1970 drama " The People Next Door " ( with Stephen McHattie ) , the 1975 horror thriller " Psychic Killer " ( with Whit Bissell ) , and , most notably , 1976 ' s " Voyage of the Damned " ( with Malcolm McDowell ) . Persoff also played the second male lead in the 1977 independent science fiction film " Deadly Harvest " , in which he worked with Kim Cattrall . He and Cattrall later acted in the 1979 mini - series " The Rebels " , directed by Russ Mayberry and co - starring Paul Fix , Warren Stevens , and Kevin Tighe . Persoff ' s other mini - series include 1978 ' s " The Word " , along with Kate Mulgrew , the aforementioned Diana Muldaur , Christopher Lloyd , Nicolas Coster , and Jonathan Banks , and " The French Atlantic Affair " , co - starring Bruce French , Harvey Jason , Lance LeGault , William Lucking , Michelle Phillips , John Rubinstein , and Gwen Van Dam . 1980s and 1990s . Although he was known for " tough guy " roles during the 1950s and 1960s , Persoff has more recently become known for more light - hearted characters . His best - known film role is that of Yentl ' s " Papa " in the 1983 musical drama " Yentl " . He is also known for voicing Papa Mousekewitz in the 1986 animated film " An American Tail " , its 1991 sequel " An American Tail : Fievel Goes West " ( in which Phillip Glasser played Papa ' s son , Fievel ) , and two direct - to - video sequels in which Thomas Dekker voiced Fievel . Christopher Plummer voiced Henri the pigeon in the first " American Tail " , while Rene Auberjonois , Tony Jay , John Kassir , and Ron Perlman voiced characters in the 1998 video sequel " An American Tail : The Treasure of Manhattan Island " . In the 1980 TV movie " The Henderson Monster " , Persoff worked alongside Stephen Collins and David Spielberg . Persoff ' s subsequent TV movies include 1980 ' s " Condominium " ( with Harry Townes and Bill Zuckert ) and 1983 ' s " Sadat " ( starring John Rhys - Davies ) . Due to declining health and high blood pressure , Persoff was forced to limit his acting work in the mid - 1980s . To compensate for his decreased acting workload , Persoff took up painting as a hobby in 1985 . He did continue making occasional film and television appearances , however . He appeared as a Rabbi in Martin Scorsese ' s acclaimed , controversial film " The Last Temptation of Christ " and played a supporting role in the hit 1988 comedy film " Twins " . The latter project also featured the aforementioned Tony Jay as well as Robert Harper , Tom McCleister , Dendrie Taylor , and Cary - Hiroyuki Tagawa . In addition , Persoff made guest appearances on such television series as " Magnum , P . I . " ( in an episode with France Nuyen and directed by Leo Penn ) , " L . A . Law " ( starring Corbin Bernsen and Larry Drake , in an episode directed by David Carson and co - starring Diana Muldaur and Natalia Nogulich ) , " Murder , She Wrote " ( with James Sloyan ) , " Doogie Howser , M . D . " ( on which Lawrence Pressman and James B . Sikking were regulars ) , and " Law & Order " . Persoff has since retired from acting entirely , instead devoting himself to his painting . Specializing in watercolor , he has created many works of art , many of which have been exhibited in California .