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, 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 as well as over thirty films. He also worked B Grade director Jerry Warren at least half a dozen times.

Conte was born in Gagliato, Italy on January 16, 1920. He came with his family via boat to New York. His adolescent years were spent in New York as well. During the Second World War, he was based in Europe as part of the Army Air Corps. After the war, he married his wife Shirley and had two children. Their marriage lasted until their divorce in the 1950s. According to his Imdb bio, in 1992, he was reunited with his son Steve, who was born in 1960 and put up 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.

1950s

On of his earliest roles was in 1950 as the Road Agent in Shotgun Messenger which was very first episode of The Marshal of Gunsight Pass. 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. The following year he played the part of the Apache kid in the Ten Thousand Reward episode of The Range Rider. Also that year he played Henchman Mac in the Robert Emmett Tansey directed Cattle Queen. In 1959, he played the part of Whorf in the Jerry Warren directed Teenage Zombies.

1960s

In 1960, he had a guest starring role in M Squad episode, The Man Who Lost His Brain. Also in the same year, he had another guest-starring role in Overland Trail in the All the O'Mara Horses episode. In 1962, he played Cabot in the Jerry Warren directed Terror of the Bloodhunters. In 1966, he was working with Jerry Warren again who he had had previously in Teenage Zombies, Terror of the Bloodhunters, and Attack of the Mayan Mummy. This time it was The Wild World of Batwoman, released in 1966.

1970s to 1980s

The early 1970s saw him in films like the western The Gatling Gun as 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 seems to be as an orderly in the Jeffrey Obrow / Stephen Carpenter directed horror film, The Kindred. in 1987.

Thugs and criminals

Throughout Conte's career, he played an assortment of henchmen and thug roles. He had approximately 23 roles playing, thugs, hoods, henchmen, burglars and criminal types.

He played the part of Henchman Mac in the 1951 film, Cattle Queen, and Henchman Lait in Hopalong Cassidy. In 1954, he 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.

Television

Film