Albert De Conti Cadassamare (29 January 1887 – 18 January 1967), professionally billed as Albert Conti, was an Austrian-Hungarian-born

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

film actor.

Life

Born in the village of

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gori ...

(now, part of Italy), Conti achieved moderate fame as an

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

in American films, but first he specialized in law (high school and law college in Graz) and natural science, and married Patricia Cross. When

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

began, he became an officer. He was the son of Albert,

Ritter Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above " Edler" and below "Freiherr" (Baron). As with most titles a ...

Conti von Cedassamare and his wife, Countess Marie Bernhardine Anna Kaboga, a member of an old Ragusan/

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

noble family (''see'': House of Caboga). After his discharge from the Austrian army at the close of World War I, he came to America like many other now-impoverished postwar Europeans from both sides of the conflict.

Emigration to U.S.A.

Conti emigrated to the United States via the Port of Philadelphia in 1919. After settling in the new country, Conti was obliged to take a series of manual labor jobs, his patrician background notwithstanding. While working in the California oil fields, he answered an open call placed by

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Erich von Stroheim, who was in search of an Austrian military officer to act as technical advisor for his upcoming film ''Merry-Go-Round'' (1923). A better actor than most of his fellow

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

expatriates, Conti was able to secure dignified character roles in several silent and sound films; his credits ranged from Josef von Sternberg's ''Morocco'' (1930) to the early Laurel and Hardy knockabout ''

Slipping Wives ''Slipping Wives'' is a silent comedy short film starring Priscilla Dean, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy prior to their official billing as the duo Laurel and Hardy. The team appeared in a total of 107 films between 1921 and 1951. Priscilla Dean ...

'' (1927). He appeared in the 1928 silent film ''Dry Martini'' as a roué artist. Though he made his last film in 1942, Albert Conti remained in the industry as an employee of the

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

wardrobe department, where he worked until his retirement in 1962.

Selected filmography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conti, Albert Austrian male film actors Italian Austro-Hungarians Nobility from Trieste Actors from Trieste 1887 births 1967 deaths Austro-Hungarian Army officers Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Austrian male silent film actors Austrian emigrants to the United States American male film actors 20th-century American male actors 20th-century Austrian male actors Austrian people of Italian descent