RICHARD CONTE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
 
Richard Conte was born on March 24th, 1910 in Jersey City, New Jersey with the birth name Richard Nicholas Peter Conte.  Prior to pursuing a career as an actor he worked a number of odd jobs to support himself such as a truck driver, Wall Street clerk and even a singing waiter. 

It was his singing waiter job that lead him to pursue working as a stage actor in New York in 1935 where two actors, Elia Kazan and Julius Garfinkle helped him obtain a scholarship to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse.
 
In 1939, he debuted in his first Broadway production, "Moon Over Mulberry Street" followed by a role in, "Walk Into My Parlor".  With some stage experience now on his resume he began working in the film industry appearing on such features as, "Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence" (1939) starring Glenn Ford, Jean Rogers, Ward Bond, Marjorie Rambeau, Kay Linaker, Eddie Collins and Irving Bacon, "Guadalcanal Diary" (1943) starring Preston Foster, Lloyd Nolan, William Bendix, Roy Roberts, Anthony Quinn, Richard Jaeckel, Minor Watson, Ralph Byrd, Lionel Stander, Reed Hadley and John Archer, "Call Northside 777" (1948) starring alongside James Stewart, Lee J. Cobb, Helen Walker, Paul Harvey, E.G. Marshall, Howard Smith, John McIntire, Moroni Olsen, Betty Garde and J.M. Kerrigan, "Thieves' Highway" (1949) starring with Lee J. Cobb, Valentina Cortese, Barbara Lawrence, Millard Mitchell, Tamara Shayne, Jack Oakie and Hope Emerson, "The Blue Gardenia" (1953) co-starring Anne Baxter, Raymond Burr, Ann Sothern and George Reeves, "Highway Dragnet" (1954) also starring Joan Bennett, Reed Hadley, Mary Beth Hughes, Iris Adrian and Wanda Hendrix, "I'll Cry Tomorrow" (1955) starring Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, Eddie Albert, Margo, Don Taylor, Ray Danton, Virginia Gregg, Ralph Edwards, Don 'Red' Barry and Jo Van Fleet and "The Big Combo" (1955) co-starring Brian Donlevy, Jean Wallace, Cornel Wilde, Earl Holliman, John Hoyt, Robert Middleton, Jay Adler, Lee Van Cleef, Helen Walker and Ted de Corsia.
 
When his contract with Fox Studio's came to an end his career in films began to slow down dramatically, however he continued to work as an actor adding numerous television appearances to his resume such as, "Bus Stop", "Twilight Zone", "The Four Just Men" co-starring Dan Dailey, Vittorio De Sica and Jack Hawkins, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Frontier Circus", "The Untouchables", "Going My Way", "77 Sunset Strip", "The Reporter", "The Jean Arthur Show" and "The Name of the Game".
 
He finished out his career returning to film work with his latest appearances on the features, "Ocean's Eleven" (1960) starring Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, Angie Dickinson, Cesar Romero, Akim Tamiroff, Henry Silva, Ilka Chase, Norman Fell, Harry Wilson, Buddy Lester, Shirley MacLaine, Red Skelton and George Raft, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965) starring an ensemble cast including Max von Sydow, Charlton Heston, Dorothy McGuire, Jose Ferrer, Telly Savalas, Claude Rains, Martin Landau, Joseph Schildkraut, David McCallum, Donald Pleasence, Michael Anderson Jr., Roddy McDowall, Ed Wynn, Michael Ansara, Ina Balin, Carroll Baker, Robert Blake, Pat Boone, Victor Buono, John Considine, Jamie Farr, David Hedison, Van Heflin, Russell Johnson, Angela Lansbury, Mark Lenard, Robert Loggia, John Lupton, Sal Mineo, Nehemiah Persoff, Sidney Poitier, Gary Raymond, Paul Stewart, John Wayne and Shelley Winters, "Assault on a Queen" (1966) also starring Frank Sinatra, Virna Lisi, Anthony Franciosa and Reginald Denny, "The Godfather" (1972) starring alongside Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, Diane Keaton, Richard Castellano, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Morgana King, Alex Rocco, John Marley and a host of other stars, "The Boss" (1973) with Henry Silva, "Shoot First, Die Later" (1974) with Luc Merenda and Raymond Pellegrin, "Evil Eye" (1975) starring Peter Falk, Jorge Rivero, Ricardo Montalban and A Martinez, "Violent City" (1975) starring Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland and Telly Savalas and his final film role, "The Return of the Exorcist" (1975) with Françoise Prevost and Patrizia Gori.

Richard Conte married twice throughout his lifetime, first to Ruth Storey from 1943 through 1962, and they had one son together.  He then married for a second time to Shirlee Garner in 1973 and they remained together until he passed away from a heart attack on April 15th, 1975 in Los Angeles, California at the age of sixty five.

Filmography

1975         The Return of the Exorcist
1975         Violent City
1975         A Diary of a Murderess
1975         Evil Eye
1974         L'onorata famiglia
1974         Shoot First, Die Later
1974         Piazza pulit
1973         Anna, quel particolare piacere
1973         No Way Out
1973         Milano trema - la polizia vuole giustizia
1973         My Brother Anastasia
1973         The Boss
1972         The Godfather
1970         The Name of the Game 
1970         The Challengers 
1970         The Bold Ones: The Lawyers
1969         Explosion
1968         Lady in Cement
1968         Operation Cross Eagles
1968         Sentenza di morte
1967         Tony Rome
1967         The Danny Thomas Hour 
1967         Hotel
1966         The Jean Arthur Show 
1966         Assault on a Queen
1965         Synanon
1965         Kraft Suspense Theatre 
1965         The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965         Stay Tuned for Terror
1964         The Donna Reed Show 
1964         The Reporter 
1964         Circus World
1964         The Eyes of Annie Jones
1964         Arrest and Trial 
1963         Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?
1963         77 Sunset Strip 
1963         Kraft Mystery Theater 
1962         Going My Way 
1962         Alcoa Premiere
1961-1962     The Untouchables 
1962         The DuPont Show of the Week 
1962         Frontier Circus 
1960-1962     Checkmate 
1962         Naked City 
1962         Bus Stop
1961         Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1959-1960     The Four Just Men
1960         Ocean's Eleven
1960         Buick-Electra Playhouse 
1960         The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio 
1959         Twilight Zone
1959         They Came to Cordura
1958         This Angry Age
1957         The Brothers Rico
1956-1957     The 20th Century-Fox Hour 
1956         Full of Life
1953-1956     The Ford Television Theatre
1955         I'll Cry Tomorrow
1955         Target Zero
1955         Bengazi
1955         The Case of the Red Monkey
1955         The Big Tip Off
1955         New York Confidential
1955         The Big Combo
1954         Race for Life
1954         Highway Dragnet
1953         G.E. True Theater 
1953         Medallion Theatre
1953         Slaves of Babylon
1953         Desert Legion
1953         The Blue Gardenia
1952         The Raiders
1952         The Fighter
1951         The Raging Tide
1951         Hollywood Story
1951         Under the Gun
1950         The Sleeping City
1949         Whirlpool
1949         Thieves' Highway
1949         House of Strangers
1949         Big Jack
1948         Cry of the City
1948         Call Northside 777
1947         The Other Love
1947         13 Rue Madeleine
1946         Somewhere in the Night
1946         Backfire
1945         The Spider
1945         A Walk in the Sun
1945         A Bell for Adano
1945         Captain Eddie
1944         The Purple Heart
1943         Guadalcanal Diary
1939         Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence