Albert Salmi

Albert Salmi (March 11, 1927 – April 22, 1990) was an American actor of stage, film, and television whose career spanned more than three decades and encompassed over 150 productions. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he was the son of Finnish immigrant parents and received his early education at Haaren High School in Manhattan. After completing a stint in the United States Army, Salmi pursued acting professionally, training in method acting under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in Manhattan.

Salmi's Broadway career ran from 1953 to 1968 and included productions such as Bus Stop, The Rainmaker, The Good Woman of Setzuan, the comedy Howie, and Once There Was a Russian. His 1955 portrayal of Bo Decker in Bus Stop drew significant critical attention and led to an offer to reprise the role opposite Marilyn Monroe in the 1956 film adaptation. Salmi declined, as he held reservations about film work — a view shared by many Actors Studio alumni who regarded stage performance as superior to screen roles. The part ultimately went to Don Murray, who received an Academy Award nomination for the performance. Salmi also appeared in the national touring production of Bus Stop, where he met actress Peggy Ann Garner; the two married on May 18, 1956, in New York City.

Despite his preference for the stage, Salmi built a substantial television résumé. Among his earlier appearances was a live televised adaptation of Bang the Drum Slowly in 1956, broadcast on The United States Steel Hour alongside Paul Newman and George Peppard. He appeared in multiple episodes of CBS's The Twilight Zone, including "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville," "A Quality of Mercy," and "Execution." In 1962, he played Sergeant Jenkins in the Combat! episode "Cat and Mouse," appearing opposite series lead Vic Morrow. The following year he portrayed John Day and Rivers in the Rawhide episode "Incident of the Pale Rider" on CBS. From 1964 to 1965, Salmi appeared as Yadkin alongside Fess Parker in the first season of the Daniel Boone television series, and he later took on the recurring role of pirate Alonzo P. Tucker in two episodes of Lost in Space. A 1967 appearance on Gunsmoke earned him a Western Heritage Award. From 1974 to 1976, he co-starred as local investigator Pete Ritter in the NBC legal drama Petrocelli.

Salmi's film credits included 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), appeared as Geraldine Page's husband in I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982), and portrayed the father of the character Diana Lawson in Hard to Hold (1984).

Salmi and Peggy Ann Garner had one child together, Catherine Ann Salmi, born March 30, 1957, who died of heart disease in 1995 at the age of 38. Salmi and Garner divorced in 1963. In 1964, Salmi married Roberta Pollock Taper, with whom he had two daughters, Elizabeth and Jennifer. The family relocated from Los Angeles to Spokane, Washington, in 1983, where Salmi entered semi-retirement, continued to take occasional acting roles, taught acting, and participated in community and regional theater.

In February 1990, Salmi and Roberta separated. She filed for divorce on February 6 and subsequently obtained a restraining order against him, alleging in court documents that he had physically abused her and made threats against her life. Salmi denied the abuse allegations and attributed their estrangement to his wife's emotional difficulties. On April 23, 1990, a friend who stopped by the Spokane home to check on Roberta discovered both her and Salmi dead. According to newspaper accounts, Salmi had fatally shot Roberta in the kitchen before shooting himself in an upstairs room. His funeral was held on April 26 at the Hennessey-Smith Funeral Home in Spokane, after which he was cremated and interred at Greenwood Memorial Terrace cemetery, where his marker reads "Our Beloved Dad."