Albert Salmi

Albert Salmi (March 11, 1927 – April 22, 1990) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Best known for his work as a character actor, he appeared in over 150 film and television productions.

Career In 1955, Salmi starred as Bo Decker in the play Bus Stop on Broadway, and also performed in the touring production of the play. His performance was praised by critics, and Salmi was offered the chance to reprise the role in the film Bus Stop (1956) starring Marilyn Monroe. Salmi turned down the offer because he did not enjoy film work. (Don Murray was later cast as Bo and earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance.)

Despite his numerous appearances in the medium, Salmi shared the opinion of many Actors Studio alumni that roles in film and television were "inferior" to stage work. One of his first television appearances was in the live, televised adaptation of the novel Bang the Drum Slowly (1956), featured on the anthology series The United States Steel Hour opposite Paul Newman and George Peppard. He also had several memorable roles on CBS's The Twilight Zone, including "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville", "A Quality of Mercy", and "Execution". In 1962 he played the role of Sergeant Jenkins in Season One/episode 9, titled "Cat and Mouse," of the series "Combat!" Throughout the episode he was paired in a contentious relationship with lead actor Vic Morrow, who played Sergeant Saunders for the 5 seasons of the series, and who, at the end of the episode—after Jenkins had bravely given his life to save Saunders and the information Saunders had to get back to the local U.S. Army Command Post (CP) -- said of Jenkins "You know it's a funny thing Major, I never had an easier time hating a man, and I'll never have a harder time forgetting one." In 1963, he portrayed John Day and Rivers in the episode "Incident of the Pale Rider" on the CBS series Rawhide. In 1964–65, he appeared with Fess Parker as Yadkin in the first season of the Daniel Boone TV series. He later appeared twice as the incorrigible pirate Alonzo P. Tucker on Lost in Space. He appeared in a 1967 episode of Gunsmoke as a killer who comes to an ironic end. For that performance, Salmi was awarded a Western Heritage Award.

Salmi's film career included roles in The Unforgiven (1960), The Outrage (1964), Lawman (1971), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Viva Knievel! (1977), Empire of the Ants (1977), Love and Bullets (1979), Caddyshack (1980), and the Robert Redford prison film Brubaker (1980). He played Greil in Dragonslayer (1981), Geraldine Page's husband in I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982), "The Young Riders" (1989), and the hard-drinking but loving father of character Diana Lawson in Hard to Hold (1984).

Personal life

Salmi met actress Peggy Ann Garner while the two were performing in the National Company touring production of Bus Stop in 1955. They were married on May 18, 1956, in New York City. Their only child, Catherine Ann "Cas" Salmi, was born on March 30, 1957; Catherine died in 1995 of heart disease at the age of 38. Salmi and Garner divorced in 1963.

In 1964, Salmi married Roberta Pollock Taper; the couple had two daughters, Elizabeth and Jennifer. Salmi later taught acting and appeared in community and regional theater. According to court documents, Roberta Salmi claimed that her husband was an alcoholic who physically abused her when he drank. She also claimed that Salmi threatened her on several occasions, and she was in fear for her life. Roberta later took out a restraining order against her husband. In response to her claims in the court documents, Salmi denied physically abusing Roberta and blamed their estrangement on her emotional issues.

Filmography

The United States Steel Hour (1956–1957, 4 episodes) Noon on Doomsday (1956) — John Kattrell Bang the Drum Slowly (1956) — Bruce Pierson Survival (1956) — Holmes The Hill Wife (1957) — Joel Shay Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957) (Season 2 Episode 39: "The Dangerous People") — Jones Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1958) (Season 4 Episode 3: "The Jokester") — Mr. Bradley The Brothers Karamazov (1958) — Smerdjakov Climax! (1958, 2 episodes) — Lieutenant Irwin Nichols Season 4 Episode 24: "The Volcano Seat" Season 4 Episode 32: "Volcano Seat, #2" The Bravados (1958) — Ed Taylor Adventures in Paradise (1959) — Paul LeBlanc Have Gun – Will Travel (1960) — Father Montalvo The Unforgiven (1960) — Charlie Rawlins Wild River (1960) — Hank Bailey Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (1960) The Peter Hurkos Story, Part 1 and Part 2 as Peter Hurkos Wagon Train (Wagon to Ft. Anderson) (1961) — George Carder Tales of Wells Fargo (Jeremiah) (1961) — Jeremiah Logart Rawhide (1960–1963, 2 episodes) — Vince Lowman in S3:E9, "Incident of the Captive"; John Day / Rivers in the Episode "Incident of the Pale Rider" The Twilight Zone (1960–1963, 3 episodes) Bonanza (1960) Albie in S2:E13, "Silent Thunder" (1968) Marcus Alley in S9:E17, "The Thirteenth Man" Naked City (1961) (Season 2 Episode 16: "Button in the Haystack") — Lennard Brewer The Untouchables (1961) — Steve 'Country Boy' Parrish in the Episode "Power Play" The Investigators (1961) — Episode "The Panic Wagon" Combat! (1962) — Sergeant Jenkins Stoney Burke (1962) (Season 1 Episode 10: "The Wanderer") — Larry Dawson The Eleventh Hour (1962) (Season 1 Episode 7: "Angie, You Made My Heart Stop") — Ken Bradley Route 66 (1962–1963) The Virginian (1962–1968, 4 episodes) Redigo (1963) (Season 1 Episode 7: "Man in a Blackout") — Ward Bennet The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963) (Season 1 Episode 21: "I'll Be Judge — I'll Be Jury") — Theodore Bond The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (1963) (Season 1 Episode 3: "The Day of the First Suitor") — Frank Turner The Fugitive (1964) — Chuck Mathers Season 1 Episode 22: "Angels Travel on Lonely Roads: Part 1" Season 1 Episode 23: "Angels Travel on Lonely Roads: Part 2" The Outrage (1964) — Sheriff Daniel Boone (TV series) (1964–65, 20 episodes) — Yadkin Battle of the Bulge (1965) — Uncredited (Fuel Truck soldier) The Legend of Jesse James (1966) 12 O'clock High (1966) Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series) (1966, Season 2, Episode 21, Dead Man's Doubloons) — Captain Albert Brent The Big Valley (1966–1967, 2 episodes) Lost in Space (1966–1968, 2 episodes) — Alonzo P. Tucker Custer (1967) The Flim-Flam Man (1967) — Deputy Meshaw Hour of the Gun (1967) — Octavius Roy Gunsmoke (1967) — Ed Carstairs (S12E26) The Ambushers (1967) — Jose Ortega The Road West (1967) That Girl (1968, Season 2, Episode 24) — George Three Guns for Texas (1968) — Cletus Grogan Four Rode Out (1970) — (uncredited) Gunsmoke "Sergeant Holly" (1970) S16 Ep14 — Willis Jeeter Land of the Giants (1970) — Melzac / Bryk McCloud (1970, Season 1, Episode 3) — Goose Jenkins Hawaii Five-O TV Series (1970), Episode "The Payoff" The High Chaparral (1971) (1 episode, Season 4) — White Horse Lawman (1971) — Harvey Stenbaugh The Deserter (1971) — Schmidt Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) — E-1 Something Big (1971) — Jonny Cobb Night Gallery (1972) Kung Fu (1972 TV series) (1972 Pilot movie) Raif / (1973 Nine Lives) Shawn Mulhare / (1974 Cry of the Night Beast) Reuben Branch The Take (1974) — Dolek A Place Without Parents (1974) — Cannonball The Legend of Earl Durand (1974) — Jack McQueen The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder (1974) — Splint The Ellery Queen Mysteries(1975) 79 Park Avenue (1977) Black Oak Conspiracy (1977) — Sheriff Grimes Once an Eagle (1977) Viva Knievel! (1977) — Cortland Moonshine County Express (1977) — Sheriff Larkin Empire of the Ants (1977) — Sheriff Art Kincade The Sweet Creek County War (1979) — George Breakworth Love and Bullets (1979) — Andy Minton Steel (1979) — Tank Cuba Crossing (1980) — Delgato Cloud Dancer (1980) — Ozzie Randolph Brubaker (1980) — Rory Poke Caddyshack (1980) — Mr. Noonan Dragonslayer (1981) — Greil St. Helens (1981) — Clyde Whittaker The Guns and the Fury (1981) — Colonel Liahkov Burned at the Stake (1982) — Captain Billingham I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982) — Ben Martin Superstition (1982) — Inspector Sturgess Love Child (1982) — Captain Ellis Dallas (1982–83) - Gil Thurman Hart to Hart (1983) — Season 5, Episode 9 — Mac Bridger Knight Rider (1983) The A-Team (1983) Hard to Hold (1984) — Johnny Lawson Knots Landing (1984–85) - Jonathan J. Rush Born American (1986) — US Ambassador Drane Breaking In (1989) — Johnny Scot, Poker Player Mission Impossible (1989) — Richard Kester Billy the Kid (1989) — Mr. Maxwell