Steve Conte (actor)

Steve Conte (January 16, 1920 – April 28, 1997) was an Italian-born actor who immigrated with his family to the United States in the early 1920s. A significant portion of his roles were playing henchmen, thugs, and criminal types. He also had roles playing various ethnicities. He had a career that lasted nearly thirty-seven years in both film and television. He appeared in approximately fifty different television series and more than thirty films. He worked at least a half dozen times with B Grade director Jerry Warren.

This article is about the actor. For the musician, see Steve Conte.

Steve Conte
Born	January 16, 1920 Gagliato, Calabria, Italy
Died	April 28, 1997(1997-04-28) (aged 77) Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Nationality	Italian
Other names	Steve Conti
Years active	1950–1987

Background

Conte was born in Gagliato, Italy. He came with his family via boat to New York. His adolescent years were spent in New York as well. During World War II, he was based in Europe as part of the United States Army Air Corps, the forerunner of the United States Air Force. After the war, he married his wife Shirley, by whom he had two children. Their marriage lasted until their divorce in the 1950s.[1] On 1992, he was reunited with his son Steve, who was born in 1960 and placed for adoption.[2] He died of Alzheimer's disease on April 28, 1997, at the age of 77. He was buried at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery.[3][4]

As a character actor, he was able to have a good run of work for some time.[5] Many of the roles that he played were of the rugged type.[6]

Career

1950s

One of Conte's earliest roles was in 1950 as the road agent in "Shotgun Messenger", the first episode of The Marshal of Gunsight Pass.[7] Also the same year he played the part of Matt Riley in the William Berke directed western Gunfire, which starred Don 'Red' Barry, and Robert Lowery.[8] The following year he played the part of the Apache kid in the Ten Thousand Reward episode of The Range Rider.[9][10] Also that year he played Henchman Mac in the Robert Emmett Tansey directed Cattle Queen.[11] In 1959, he played the part of Whorf in the Jerry Warren-directed Teenage Zombies.[12] [13]

In 1952, Conte was cast as a villain, Jerry, in the 1952 episode, "Self Made Man," of the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. In the story line, San Francisco lawyer Lew Barry (William Henry) studies to become a lawyer after he loses an arm in a shooting and can no longer earn his livelihood as a rock driller. Much later, he gains the acquittal on a murder charge of Jerry, the man who had shot him years earlier.[14]

1960s

In 1960, Conte guest starred in the M Squad episode, "The Man Who Lost His Brain," starring Lee Marvin. He appeared guest starred that same year in Overland Trail in the episode, "All the O'Mara Horses."[15] In 1962, he played Cabot in the Jerry Warren directed Terror of the Bloodhunters.[16][17] In 1966, he was working with Jerry Warren again who he had had previously in Teenage Zombies,[18] Terror of the Bloodhunters, and Attack of the Mayan Mummy.[19] This time it was The Wild World of Batwoman, released in 1966.[20]

1970s to 1980s

The early 1970s, Conte appeared in such films as The Gatling Gunn the role of Private Mitchell,[21] and in the Sci-Fi The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler as a radio operator. In the late 1970s, he played a prison guard in the Harold Becker-directed The Onion Field.[22]

One of his last appearances is credited as an orderly in the Jeffrey Obrow/Stephen Carpenter-directed horror film, The Kindred, in 1987.[23]

Role types

Thugs and criminals

Throughout Conte's career, he played some twenty-three roles as henchman thug, and criminal types.[24]

He played the part of Henchman Mac in the 1951 film, Cattle Queen of Montana, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan,[25] and Henchman Lait in the television series, Hopalong Cassidy.[26]

In 1954, Conte played a bandit in the Wild Luke's Boy episode of General Electric Theater.[27] In 1955, he played a henchman in the Dick Ross directed film, Wiretapper,[28] and Cyclops, "One-Eyed Henchman" in the Guns Below the Border episode of The Gene Autry Show. He had also played a henchman in two previous episodes of the show. He played henchmen in three episodes of Batman which were, Penguin Is a Girl's Best Friend, Penguin Sets a Trend, and Penguin's Disastrous End.[29]

Filmography (selective)

Television

Title	Episode #	Role	Director	Aired	Year	Notes #
The Marshal of Gunsight Pass	Shotgun Messenger	The Road Agent			1950
The Range Rider	Ten Thousand Reward	Apache Kid	David R. Lederman		1951
The Gene Autry Show	Trouble at Silver Creek	Henchman Buzz	George Archainbaud	March 9	1952
The Gene Autry Show	The Trail of the Witch	'Breed' – Lead Henchman	George Archainbaud		1952
Death Valley Days	Self-Made Man	Barfly	Stuart E. McGowan	December 12	1952	As Steve Conti
Death Valley Days	Cynthy's Dream Dress	First Robber	Stuart E. McGowan	March 3	1953	As Steve Conti
Ramar of the Jungle	Mark of Shaitan	Luku – Head Porter	Paul Landres	June 27	1953
The Gene Autry Show	Outlaw Stage	Jim, 3rd Robber	Wallace Fox	July 21	1953
The Gene Autry Show	Border Justice	Ralph, Cleanshaven Henchman	Wallace Fox	August 18	1953
Hopalong Cassidy	The Jinx Wagon	Henchman Lait	George Archainbaud	November 12	1953
Mayor of the Town	Happy Birthday	Benson	John Rawlins		1954
General Electric Theater	Wild Luke's Boy	Bandit	Alfred E. Green	16 May	1954
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin	The Blushing Brides	Tawshonie	Don McDougall	March 18	1955
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin	The Ghost Town	Stannard	Robert G. Walker	April 29	1955
Damon Runyon Theater	Tobias the Terrible		Leslie H. Martinson	21 May	1955
Death Valley Days	I Am Joaquin	Henchman Garcia	Stuart E. McGowan	June 7	1955
The Gene Autry Show	Stage to San Dimas	Bert Nixon	George Archainbaud	October 8	1955
Cheyenne	The Argonauts	Acuna	Richard L. Bare	November 1	1955
The Gene Autry Show	Guns Below the Border	Cyclops – One-Eyed Henchman	George Archainbaud	November 5	1955
My Friend Flicka	Wind from Heaven	Robert Gordon	Tim Connell	February 3	1956
The 20th Century-Fox Hour	Crack-Up	Announcer	Ted Post	February 8	1956
Death Valley Days	Nevada's Plymouth Rock	Plug Bailey	Stuart E. McGowan	February 13	1956
The Adventures of Champion	The Real Unfriendly Ghost	Fred Hackett	John English		1956
The Adventures of Champion	Calhoun Rides Again	Rapp	John English	March 3	1956
Star Stage	The Sainted General		Herschel Daugherty	April 6	1956
Superman	Jimmy the Kid	Thug No. 2	Philip Ford	April 28	1956
Buffalo Bill, Jr.	Secret of the Silverado		George Archainbaud	21 May	1956
Buffalo Bill, Jr.	Angelo Goes West		George Archainbaud	29 May	1956
Dragnet	The Big Steal			January 17	1957
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Dual Control	Snake	Paul Henreid	November 1	1957
Batman (TV Series)	Penguin is a Girl's Best Friend/ Penguin Sets a Trend/ Penguin's Disastrous End	Second henchman	Stanford Sherman	January 26, February 1, February 2	1967

Film

Title	Year	Role	Director	Notes #
Gunfire	1950	Matt Riley	William Berke	(as Steve Conti)
Cattle Queen	1951	Henchman Mac	Robert Emmett Tansey
Hiawatha	1952	Minor Role	Kurt Neumann	Uncredited
Goldtown Ghost Riders	1953	Blackwell	George Archainbaud
Appointment in Honduras	1953	Stranger	Jacques Tourneur	Uncredited
Trader Tom of the China Seas	1954	First Rebel on Horseback	Franklin Adreon	Uncredited
Wiretapper	1955	Henchman	Dick Ross
A Day of Fury	1956	Mugg	Harmon Jones	Uncredited
I Was a Teenage Werewolf	1957		Gene Fowler Jr.	Uncredited
Gun Battle at Monterey	1957	Posseman	Sidney Franklin Carl K. Hittleman	Uncredited
The Book of Acts Series	1957	Agrippa II	Eddie Dew
Vertigo	1958	Burglar	Alfred Hitchcock	Uncredited
The Black Orchid	1958	Hood	Martin Ritt	Uncredited
Teenage Zombies	1960	Whorf	Jerry Warren
Terror of the Bloodhunters	1962	Cabot	Jerry Warren
Dangerous Charter	1962	Goon	Robert Gottschalk
The Violent and the Damned	1962	Convict	Carl Christensen Jerry Warren
Face of the Screaming Werewolf	1964	The Hired Thief	Gilberto Martínez Solares Rafael López Portillo Jerry Warren
Attack of the Mayan Mummy	1964	The Hired Thief	Rafael Portillo Jerry Warren	TV movie
The Wild World of Batwoman	1966	Bruno	Jerry Warren
Flareup	1969	Lt. Franklin	James Neilson
Change of Habit	1969	Man in Scene 166	William Graham	Uncredited
The Gatling Gun	1971	Pvt. Mitchell	Robert Gordon
The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler	1971	Radio Opr.#2	Bob Wynn
The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2	1978	Wrangler	Larry Peerce
Fast Break	1979	Man on Bus	Jack Smight
The Onion Field	1979	Prison Guard No. 1	Harold Becker
Hamburger: The Motion Picture	1986	Security Guard No. 3	Mike Marvin
The KIndred	1987	Orderly	Jeffrey Obrow Stephen Carpenter	(final film role)

References

1. Celebrity Images – Steve Conte
2. Imdb – Steve Conte, Biography
3. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d edition by Scott Wilson, Foreword by Gregory William Mank – Page 153 2645. Conte, Steve
4. Ovguide – Steve Conte
5. Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, By Bill Warren, Bill Thomas – Teenage Zombies * 1959
6. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d edition by Scott Wilson, Foreword by Gregory William Mank – Page 153 2645. Conte, Steve
7. TV Acres – Westerns > The Marshal of Gunsight Pass
8. Western Movies: A Guide to 5,105 Feature Films, 2d ed., By Michael R. Pitts – 138 1713 Gunfire
9. TV Buzer – The Range Rider
10. Television Westerns Episode Guide: All United States Series, 1949–1996, Harris M. Lentz – Page 328 The Range Rider
11. moviefone – Cattle Queen (1951), full cast & crew
12. Motion Picture Herald, Volumes 218–219 – Page 151
13. Cue, Volume 40, Issues 27–39 – Page 52
14. "Self Made Man on Death Valley Days". IMDb. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
15. Tv.com – Steve Conte
16. Cue: The Weekly Magazine of New York Life, Cue Publishing Company, 1971 – Page 62
17. Digitally Obsessed, March 8, 2005 – Terror of the Bloodhunters / Liane Jungle Goddess, Review By: Rich Rosell
18. The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, By Peter Dendle – Page 169
19. The New Poverty Row: Independent Filmmakers as Distributors, By Fred Olen Ray – Page 21
20. Quadrinhos no Cinema 2, By ALEXANDRE CALLARI, BRUNO ZAGO, DANIEL LOPES – Page 164
21. Aveleyman.com – The Gatling Gun
22. Academy Awards Oscar 1980 Annual, Art Sarno – Page 93
23. BFI – Films, TV and people, Steve Conte
24. Imdb – Steve Conte, Filmography
25. Theiapolis.com – Cast of "Cattle Queen" (1951), a film by Robert Emmett Tansey
26. Social TV – Hopalong Cassidy, Personajes
27. Aveleyman.com – Steve Conte
28. moviefone – Wiretapper (1955), full cast & crew
29. Imdb – Steve Conte, Filmography

External links

• Aveleyman.com: Steve Conte
• Steve Conte on IMDb