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.

)[4] 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.

[7] 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!

He played Greil in Dragonslayer (1981), Geraldine Page's husband in I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982), and the hard-drinking but loving father of character Diana Lawson in Hard to Hold (1984).

Salmi met actress Peggy Ann Garner while the two were performing in the National Company touring production of Bus Stop in 1955.

[7] In 1983, the family moved from Los Angeles to Spokane, Washington, where Salmi went into semi-retirement, taking occasional acting roles.

In response to her claims in the court documents, Salmi denied physically abusing Roberta and blamed their estrangement on her emotional issues.

[11][12] On April 23, 1990, Albert Salmi and his estranged wife Roberta were found dead in their Spokane home by a friend who stopped by to check on her.