Richard Conte was born Nicholas Richard Conte on March 24, 1910, in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of an Italian-American barber. The young Conte held a variety of jobs before becoming a professional actor, including truck driver, Wall Street clerk and singing waiter at a Connecticut resort. The gig as a singing waiter led to theatrical work in ...
Although he was a staunch conservative Republican, he was against the blacklist and joined liberals Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in their fight against it.
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Appeared in the original Ocean's 11 (1960) and The Godfather (1972). The remake Ocean's Eleven (2001) and its sequels feature many Godfather references. Cast members Al Pacino and Andy Garcia appear in both series. Ocean's cast member Scott Caan is the son of Godfather actor James Caan, and his character's name, Turk, is taken from "The Turk," a name used in The Godfather.
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Featured in "Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir" by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry (McFarland, 2003).
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He was one of the many actors considered by Paramount for the title role of Don Corleone in The Godfather (1972). The movie originally was intended to be a low-budget production set in contemporary times, but after the phenomenal success of the book, the budget was increased. Conte's Italian heritage helped his cause, as Paramount production head Robert Evans wanted the film to be authentically Italianm which was the reason the Italian American Francis Ford Coppola was hired to direct. Conte's rivals for the role reportedly included fellow Italian-American Ernest Borgnine, but as the prestige of the picture increased along with the budget, A-list actors began to be considered for the role, including two-time Oscar-winner Anthony Quinn and the legendary Orson Welles. Burt Lancaster, whose superstar status had dimmed but who had the advantage of having played an Italian prince in Luchino Visconti's The Leopard (1963), actively campaigned for the role. Ironically, Visconti had wanted to cast Laurence Olivier in The Leopard (1963) (but was overruled by his producer who wanted a box office star), the actor who quickly became the favorite to play the Mafia chieftain. Olivier was sounded out by Paramount brass about the part, and he was open to their offer. Then considered the world's greatest actor, Olivier wanted to accept the role but ultimately could not due to illness. After the long-shot Marlon Brando was cast as Don Corleone at the insistence of Coppola, Conte was cast in the role of his rival, Don Barzini.
$1.3 Million
