# Albert Salmi

Albert Salmi (March 11, 1928 – April 22, 1990) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Best known for his work as a character actor, he appeared in over 150 film and television productions.

## Early life

Salmi was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Finnish immigrant parents. He attended Haaren High School in Manhattan. Following a stint in the United States Army, Salmi took up acting as a career, studying method acting at the Actors Studio in Manhattan with Lee Strasberg.

## Career

In 1955, Salmi starred as Bo Decker in the play Bus Stop on Broadway, and also performed in the touring production of the play. His performance was praised by critics, and Salmi was offered the chance to reprise the role in the film Bus Stop (1956) starring Marilyn Monroe. Salmi turned down the offer because he did not enjoy film work. (Don Murray was later cast as Bo and earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance.)
Despite his numerous appearances in the medium, Salmi shared the opinion of many Actors Studio alumni that roles in film and television were "inferior" to stage work. One of his first television appearances was in the live, televised adaptation of the novel Bang the Drum Slowly (1956), featured on the anthology series The United States Steel Hour opposite Paul Newman and George Peppard. He also had several memorable roles on CBS's The Twilight Zone, including "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville", "A Quality of Mercy", and "Execution". In 1963, he portrayed John Day and Rivers in the episode "Incident of the Pale Rider" on the CBS series Rawhide. In 1964–65, he appeared with Fess Parker as Yadkin in the first season of the Daniel Boone TV series. He later appeared twice as the incorrigible pirate Alonzo P. Tucker on Lost in Space. He appeared in a 1967 episode of Gunsmoke as a killer who comes to an ironic end. For that performance, Salmi was awarded a Western Heritage Award.
From 1974 to 1976, Salmi co-starred in the NBC legal drama Petrocelli as local investigator Pete Ritter.
Salmi's film career included roles in The Unforgiven (1960), The Outrage (1964), Lawman (1971), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Viva Knievel! (1977), Empire of the Ants (1977), Love and Bullets (1979), Caddyshack (1980), and the Robert Redford prison film Brubaker (1980). He played Greil in Dragonslayer (1981), Geraldine Page's husband in I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982), and the hard-drinking but loving father of character Diana Lawson in Hard to Hold (1984).

## Personal life

Salmi met actress Peggy Ann Garner while the two were performing in the National Company touring production of Bus Stop in 1955. They were married on May 18, 1956, in New York City. Their only child, Catherine Ann "Cas" Salmi, was born on March 30, 1957; Catherine died in 1995 of heart disease at the age of 38.
Salmi married Roberta Pollock Taper in 1964. The couple had two daughters, Elizabeth and Jennifer. In 1983, the family moved from Los Angeles to Spokane, Washington, where Salmi went into semi-retirement, taking occasional acting roles. Salmi later taught acting and appeared in community and regional theater.
In February 1990, Albert and Roberta Salmi separated. He moved into their Idaho condominium, while Roberta remained in the family home in Spokane. She filed for divorce on February 6. According to court documents, Roberta Salmi claimed that her husband was an alcoholic who physically abused her when he drank. She also claimed that Salmi threatened her on several occasions, and she was in fear for her life. Roberta later took out a restraining order against her husband. In response to her claims in the court documents, Salmi denied physically abusing Roberta and blamed their estrangement on her emotional issues.
On April 23, 1990, Albert Salmi and his estranged wife Roberta were found dead in their Spokane home by a friend who stopped by to check on her. According to newspaper accounts, Salmi fatally shot Roberta in the kitchen of her home, before shooting himself in an upstairs room.
On April 26, Salmi's funeral was held at the Hennessey-Smith Funeral Home, after which he was cremated and placed in a niche at Greenwood Memorial Terrace cemetery in Spokane; the marker is listed as "Our Beloved Dad".

## Filmography

* The United States Steel Hour (1956–1957, 4 episodes)
       Noon on Doomsday (1956) — John Kattrell
       Bang the Drum Slowly (1956) — Bruce Pierson
       Survival (1956) — Holmes
       The Hill Wife (1957) — Joel Shay
* Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957) (Season 2 Episode 39: "The Dangerous People") — Jones
* Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1958) (Season 4 Episode 3: "The Jokester") — Mr. Bradley
* The Brothers Karamazov (1958) — Smerdjakov
* Climax! (1958, 2 episodes) — Lieutenant Irwin Nichols
       Season 4 Episode 24: "The Volcano Seat"
       Season 4 Episode 32: "Volcano Seat, #2"
* The Bravados (1958) — Ed Taylor
* Adventures in Paradise (1959) — Paul LeBlanc
* Have Gun – Will Travel (1960) — Father Montalvo
* The Unforgiven (1960) — Charlie Rawlins
* Wild River (1960) — Hank Bailey
* Wagon Train (Wagon to Ft. Anderson) (1961) — George Carder
* Tales of Wells Fargo (Jeremiah) (1961) — Jeremiah Logart
* Rawhide (1960–1963, 2 episodes) — Vince Lowman in S3:E9, "Incident of the Captive" ; John Day / Rivers in the Episode "Incident of the Pale Rider"
* The Twilight Zone (1960–1963, 3 episodes)
* Bonanza (1960) Albie in S2:E13, "Silent Thunder"
** (1968) Marcus Alley in S9:E17, "The Thirteenth Man"
* Naked City (1961) (Season 2 Episode 16: "Button in the Haystack") — Lennard Brewer
* The Untouchables (1961) — Steve 'Country Boy' Parrish in the Episode "Power Play"
* The Investigators (1961) — Episode "The Panic Wagon"
* Combat! (1962) — Sergeant Jenkins
* Stoney Burke (1962) (Season 1 Episode 10: "The Wanderer") — Larry Dawson
* The Eleventh Hour (1962) (Season 1 Episode 7: "Angie, You Made My Heart Stop") — Ken Bradley
* Route 66 (1962–1963)
* The Virginian (1962–1968, 4 episodes)
* Redigo (1963) (Season 1 Episode 7: "Man in a Blackout") — Ward Bennet
* The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963) (Season 1 Episode 21: "I'll Be Judge — I'll Be Jury") — Theodore Bond
* The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (1963) (Season 1 Episode 3: "The Day of the First Suitor") — Frank Turner
* The Fugitive (1964) — Chuck Mathers
       Season 1 Episode 22: "Angels Travel on Lonely Roads: Part 1"
       Season 1 Episode 23: "Angels Travel on Lonely Roads: Part 2"
* The Outrage (1964) — Sheriff
* Daniel Boone (TV series) (1964–65, 20 episodes) — Yadkin
* Battle of the Bulge (1965) — Uncredited (Fuel Truck soldier)
* The Legend of Jesse James (1966)
* 12 O'clock High (1966)
* Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series) (1966, Season 2, Episode 21, Dead Man's Doubloons) — Captain Albert Brent
* The Big Valley (1966–1967, 2 episodes)
* Lost in Space (1966–1968, 2 episodes) — Alonzo P. Tucker
* Custer (1967)
* The Flim-Flam Man (1967) — Deputy Meshaw
* Hour of the Gun (1967) — Octavius Roy
* Gunsmoke (1967) — Ed Corsairs (S12E26)
* The Ambushers (1967) — Jose Ortega
* The Road West (1967)
* That Girl (1968, Season 2, Episode 24) — George
* Three Guns for Texas (1968) — Cletus Grogan
* Four Rode Out (1970) — (uncredited)
* Gunsmoke "Sergeant Holly" (1970) S16 Ep14 — Willis Jeeter
* Land of the Giants (1970) — Melzac / Bryk
* McCloud (1970, Season 1, Episode 3) — Goose Jenkins
* Hawaii Five-O TV Series (1970), Episode "The Payoff"
* The High Chaparral (1971) (1 episode, Season 4) — White Horse
* Lawman (1971) — Harvey Stenbaugh
* The Deserter (1971) — Schmidt
* Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) — E-1
* Something Big (1971) — Jonny Cobb
* Night Gallery (1972)
* Kung Fu (1972 TV series) (1972 Pilot movie) Raif / (1973 Nine Lives) Shawn Mulhare / (1974 Cry of the Night Beast) Reuben Branch
* The Take (1974) — Dolek
* A Place Without Parents (1974) — Cannonball
* The Legend of Earl Durand (1974) — Jack McQueen
* The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder (1974) — Splint
* 79 Park Avenue (1977)
* Black Oak Conspiracy (1977) — Sheriff Grimes
* Once an Eagle (1977)
* Viva Knievel! (1977) — Cortland
* Moonshine County Express (1977) — Sheriff Larkin
* Empire of the Ants (1977) — Sheriff Art Kincade
* The Sweet Creek County War (1979) — George Breakworth
* Love and Bullets (1979) — Andy Minton
* Steel (1979) — Tank
* Cuba Crossing (1980) — Delgato
* Cloud Dancer (1980) — Ozzie Randolph
* Brubaker (1980) — Rory Poke
* Caddyshack (1980) — Mr. Noonan
* Dragonslayer (1981) — Greil
* St. Helens (1981) — Clyde Whittaker
* The Guns and the Fury (1981) — Colonel Liahkov
* Burned at the Stake (1982) — Captain Billingham
* I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982) — Ben Martin
* Superstition (1982) — Inspector Sturgess
* Love Child (1982) — Captain Ellis
* Dallas (1982–83) - Gil Thurman
* Hart to Hart (1983) — Season 5, Episode 9 — Mac Bridger
* Knight Rider (1983)
* The A-Team (1983)
* Hard to Hold (1984) — Johnny Lawson
* Knots Landing (1984–85) - Jonathan J. Rush
* Born American (1986) — US Ambassador Drane
* Breaking In (1989) — Johnny Scot, Poker Player
* Mission Impossible (1989) — Richard Kester
* Billy the Kid (1989) — Mr. Maxwell