Albert Maroica Blasius Franz Maria, '' Ritter'' Conti von Cedassamare (29 January 1887 – 18 January 1967), commonly known as Albert Conti, was an Austrian-American actor. He was a member of the noble Kaboga family.

Biography

Conti was born in the village of

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

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

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

in American films, but first he specialized in law (high school and law college in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

) and natural science, and married Patricia Cross. When

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

began, he became an officer. He was the son of Albert, Ritter Conti von Cedassamare and his wife, Countess Marie Bernhardine Anna Kaboga, a member of an old Ragusan/

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

noble family (''see'':

House of Caboga The House of Kaboga (Kabužić in Croatian language, Croatian, Caboga in Italian language, Italian) were a Patrician (post-Roman Europe), patrician family from the city of Dubrovnik and its Republic of Ragusa. Their numbers, economic power and soc ...

). 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 Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim, ; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of ...

, 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, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

expatriates, Conti was able to secure dignified character roles in several silent and sound films; his credits ranged from

Josef von Sternberg Josef von Sternberg (; born Jonas Sternberg; May 29, 1894 – December 22, 1969) was an American filmmaker whose career successfully spanned the transition from the Silent film, silent to the Sound film, sound era, during which he worked with mos ...

's ''Morocco'' (1930) to the early

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

knockabout '' Slipping Wives'' (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, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

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

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conti, Albert Austrian male film actors Italian Austro-Hungarians Nobility from Trieste Male 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