Stage He made his film debut under the name Nicholas Conte in
Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence (1939) at 20th Century Fox. He played Tony, a hobo who meets up with Joe (
Glenn Ford who was also making his film debut) and Anita (
Jean Rogers). The three of them make their way west hopping trains. They are later joined by Professor B (
Raymond Walburn). He made his Broadway debut in ''My Heart's in the Highlands'' (1939) for the
Group Theatre. Also for the Group, he was in
Clifford Odets'
Night Music (1940). He performed in the road company of
Golden Boy. On Broadway, he was in
Heavenly Express (1941) and
Walk Into My Parlor (1941). He was a hit in
Jason (1942), followed by
Family (1943). During World War II, Conte served in the United States Army, but he was discharged because of eye trouble.
20th Century Fox In May 1943, Conte signed a long-term contract with
20th Century Fox, changing his name to Richard Conte. His first Fox film was
Guadalcanal Diary (1943), where he was billed fourth. He followed it with another war drama,
The Purple Heart (1944), directed by
Lewis Milestone; he was billed second, beneath
Dana Andrews. Conte had a smaller part in
Captain Eddie (1945), a biopic about
Eddie Rickenbacker, and played an Italian POW in
A Bell for Adano (1945). Conte had the star role in
A Walk in the Sun (1945), another war film for Milestone, and he was teamed again with Andrews.
Success Fox promoted Conte to top billing with the film noir
The Spider (1945). Although a B film for the studio, it was successful enough to establish Conte in film noir. He had supporting roles in
Somewhere in the Night (1946), directed by
Joseph Mankiewicz, and the spy film
13 Rue Madeleine (1946), directed by
Henry Hathaway. Conte was borrowed by
Enterprise Productions for
The Other Love (1947) with
Barbara Stanwyck and
David Niven. Back at Fox, he was in Hathaway's crime drama
Call Northside 777 (1948) as the prisoner whose innocence is proved by
James Stewart. Conte was teamed with
Victor Mature in
Cry of the City (1948). MGM borrowed him for
Big Jack (1949), then he did
House of Strangers (1949) with
Edward G. Robinson, playing Max Monetti, a lawyer who defends his father (Robinson) against government charges of banking irregularities and goes to prison for jury tampering. Conte was top billed in ''
Thieves' Highway'' (1949), directed by
Jules Dassin, and co-starred with
Gene Tierney in
Otto Preminger's film noir
Whirlpool (1950).
Universal Conte signed a contract with Universal Pictures, and he starred in some crime films:
The Sleeping City (1950);
Hollywood Story (1951), directed by
William Castle; and
The Raging Tide (1951). After doing
The Fighter (1952) for United Artists, he returned to Universal for
The Raiders (1952). Conte went to Warner Bros to co-star with
Anne Baxter and
Ann Sothern in
The Blue Gardenia (1953) directed by
Fritz Lang. Back at Universal, Conte was in
Desert Legion (1953). He made
Slaves of Babylon (1953) for
Sam Katzman at Columbia. Conte started guest starring on TV shows such as
Medallion Theatre,
Ford Television Theatre, and
General Electric Theater.
Bill Broidy In 1953, Conte signed a contract with
Bill Broidy to make six films over three years, and he would be paid 25% of the profits. The first was the crime drama
Highway Dragnet (1954), based on a story by
Roger Corman, and he then went to England to make
Mask of Dust (1954) for
Hammer Films director
Terence Fisher. He was going to direct
The Wolf Pack for Broidy, but it was not made. Back in the U.S., Conte did
The Big Combo (1955) for
Cornel Wilde's company;
New York Confidential (1955) for producer
Edward Small; and
The Big Tip Off (1955) for Broidy. Conte went to England for
Little Red Monkey (1955), RKO for
Bengazi (1955), and Warners for a Korean War movie
Target Zero (1955). Conte broke out of B movies with the second lead in ''
I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955), an MGM biopic about Lillian Roth starring Susan Hayward. Conte and director Daniel Mann announced they would make Play by Play'', but it was not made.
Columbia Conte made a series of films for Columbia. He co-starred with
Judy Holliday in
Full of Life (1956), played the lead in
The Brothers Rico (1957), and had supporting roles in
This Angry Age (1957) and
They Came to Cordura (1959).
Television He continued to guest on TV shows like
The 20th Century-Fox Hour and
The Twilight Zone ("
Perchance to Dream") and played the lead in a TV adaptation of
The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio (1960). He had his first regular TV role in
The Four Just Men (1959–1960). Conte supported
Frank Sinatra in ''
Ocean's 11 (1960) but then focused on TV: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bus Stop, Naked City, Checkmate, Frontier Circus, The DuPont Show of the Week, The Untouchables, Alcoa Premiere, Going My Way, Kraft Mystery Theater, 77 Sunset Strip, The Reporter, Kraft Suspense Theatre and Arrest and Trial''. He appeared as Lieutenant Dave Santini in two crime films with
Frank Sinatra:
Tony Rome (1967) and
Lady in Cement (1968). He also did
Sentenza di morte (1968). In 1968, he released his only film as a director,
Operation Cross Eagles, in which he also starred.'' (1974).Conte's later performances include
The Bold Ones: The Lawyers,
The Challengers (1970), and
The Name of the Game (1970).
The Godfather and later career Conte gave one of his most memorable performances in
The Godfather (1972) as
Don Emilio Barzini. He was at one time also considered for the title role, Don
Vito Corleone, a role performed by
Marlon Brando. The success of the film led to Conte being cast in a series of "mob" roles, mainly in Italian-produced
poliziotteschi films. These included
Anna, quel particolare piacere (1972),
The Violent Professionals (1973),
Il Boss (1973),
My Brother Anastasia (1973) with
Alberto Sordi,
Tony Arzenta (1973) with
Alain Delon,
Shoot First, Die Later (1974) and
Violent Rome (1975). He did the horror films
Evil Eye (1975),
A Diary of a Murderess (1975) and
Naked Exorcism (1975). ==Personal life==