NEHEMIAH PERSOFF - CONTRACT SIGNED 05/14/1957 CO-SIGNED BY: ARMINA MARSHALL - HFSID 286608

NEHEMIAH PERSOFF
Signed contract with the Theatre Guild for a TV appearance, also signed by Armina Marshall on behalf of the Guild. Many small amendments in his hand, requiring five initials from each signer, show that he studied this document carefully before signing.
Document signed: "Nehemiah Persoff" , "Armina Marshall", 2 pages (front and verso) 8½x11. Also initialed "NP", "AM" five times each. New York, N.Y., 1957 May 14. Persoff commits to act, with 1st star billing, in a single TV broadcast sponsored by US Steel. Readers should enjoy perusing Persoff's almost lawyerly attention to the details of the contract, resulting in several initialed additions and deletions in his hand. NEHEMIAH PERSOFF (1920-2022) moved with his family to the US in 1929. He made his Broadway debut in 1940, but became primarily a film and television actor. Persoff's appearance and talent for dialect led to casting in ethnic, and often villainous roles. He was frequently a mobster or despot (Stalin, Mussolini, Herod. His image softened in later roles, including the voice of Papa Mousekowitz in the American Tail films. Though the production is not specified here, this contract was probably for an appearance on the United States Steel Hour. Persoff gave five performances on that TV playhouse between 1955 and 1958. ARMINA MARSHALL (d. 1991), who first appeared on the Broadway stage in 1924, became a prominent playwright and producer. The Theatre Guild, which she and husband Lawrence Langer founded in 1919, still flourishes, producing hundreds of plays. Marshall and Langer received a Tony Award for the stage version of Sunrise at Campobello in 1958 and a special Tony (1961) for organizing the first repertory group to tour the world for the U.S. State Department (at the behest of President John F. Kennedy). Staple at left edge. Staple holes at top edge. Lightly creased. Top left edge creased. Otherwise fine condition.