Albert Salmi

Albert Salmi (March 11, 1928 – April 22, 1990) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. He was a noted as a character actor and appeared in over 150 film and television productions. Salmi died of a self-inflicted gunshot, after first shooting dead his estranged second wife, Roberta.

Early life

Salmi was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, to Finnish immigrant parents. He attended Haaren High School in Manhattan. Following a stint in the United States Army during World War II, Salmi took up acting as a career, studying Method acting at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg.

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 1956 film Bus Stop 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.) Salmi turned down several other offers to make films before he finally accepted a role as Smerdjakov in the 1958 film The Brothers Karamazov, with Yul Brynner, Lee J. Cobb, William Shatner, and Richard Basehart. Salmi's next film was The Bravados in which he played one of the villains who is hunted down by hero Gregory Peck. The National Board of Review presented Salmi with the NBR Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in both of these films.