# Steve Conte (actor)

Steve Conte (January 16, 1920 – April 28, 1997) was an Italian-born American actor who immigrated with his family to the United States in the early 1920s. He often played henchmen, thugs, and criminal types, besides playing ethnicities. His career 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.

## 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. In 1992, he was reunited with his son Steve, who was born in 1960 and placed for adoption. He died of Alzheimer's disease on April 28, 1997, at the age of 77. He was buried at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
As a character actor, he was able to have a good run of work for some time. Many of the roles that he played were of the rugged type.

## 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. Also the same year he played Matt Riley in the Western film Gunfire. The following year he played the Apache kid in the "Ten Thousand Reward" episode of The Range Rider. Also that year he played Henchman Mac in Cattle Queen. In 1959, he played Whorf in Teenage Zombies.
In 1952, Conte was cast as a villain, Jerry, in the 1952 episode, "Self Made Man," of Death Valley Days.

### 1960s

In 1960, Conte guest starred in the M Squad episode, "The Man Who Lost His Brain". He appeared that same year in Overland Trail in the episode, "All the O'Mara Horses." In 1962, he played Cabot in Terror of the Bloodhunters. In 1966, he appeared in The Wild World of Batwoman (1966).

### 1970s to 1980s

The early 1970s, Conte appeared in such films as The Gatling Gun in the role of Private Mitchell, 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.
One of his last appearances is credited as an orderly in the Jeffrey Obrow/Stephen Carpenter-directed horror film, The Kindred, in 1987.

## Role types
### Thugs and criminals

Throughout Conte's career, he played some twenty-three roles as henchman, thug, and criminal types.
He played the part of Henchman Mac in the 1951 film, Cattle Queen of Montana, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan, and Henchman Lait in the television series, Hopalong Cassidy.
In 1954, Conte played a bandit in the Wild Luke's Boy episode of General Electric Theater. In 1955, he played a henchman in the Dick Ross directed film, Wiretapper, 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.

## 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 | Shot in 1958 |
| 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) |