[4] Contino got his big break on December 7, 1947, at age 17, when he played "Lady of Spain" (his signature piece) and won first place in the Horace Heidt/Philip Morris talent contest in Fresno, which was broadcast on national radio.

[5] Contino also won first place in subsequent competitions in Los Angeles,[4] Omaha,[2] Des Moines,[6] Youngstown,[7] Cleveland,[8] Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and New York City.

[citation needed] Contino toured with the Horace Heidt Orchestra and was billed as the "world's greatest accordion player."

[citation needed] Contino's acting became known to a new generation in 1991, when Daddy-O, a low-budget 1958 movie in which he starred as a faddishly-dressed beat rebel and singer, was shown on a third-season episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The show also riffed the 1959 film Girls Town, in which Contino appeared with other musical performers, such as Paul Anka and The Platters.

His repertoire was eclectic, ranging from Italian songs such as "Come Back to Sorrento" and "Arrivederci Roma" to standards like "Lady of Spain" and "Swinging on a Star".

Ellroy also penned a short story entitled Hollywood Shakedown, which appeared in his collected work Crime Wave and featured Contino as the central character.

He appeared briefly in Ellroy's American Tabloid, the first book of his Underworld USA Trilogy, performing at a mafia-financed Cuban exile military training camp ("Contino played 'Lady Of Spain' six thousand times.").