In the minds of 97% of film lovers, Nehemiah Persoff is remembered for one and only one role — the bald-headed “Little Bonaparte” in Some Like It Hot.
Yes, he played the cab driver who drove Rod Steiger to his doom in On The Waterfront, but that didn’t count because Persoff didn’t say anything — he just glared.
Persoff was also in a ton of other films and TV shows, but at the end of the day there is only Little Bonaparte and more particularly his answer to Pat O’Brien‘s “what happened here?” at the end of the banquet scene.
Bonaparte: “There was somethin’ in that cake that didn’t agree with them.”
Persoff died today at age 102. Respect and condolences.
