[1] He was known for his starring roles in films noir and crime dramas during the 1940s and 1950s,[2] including Call Northside 777, Cry of the City, House of Strangers, Whirlpool, The Blue Gardenia, and The Big Combo.

Later in his career, he achieved recognition for his portrayal of Emilio Barzini, the mob boss rival to Vito Corleone and the principal antagonist of The Godfather (1972).

[5] Conte worked as a truck driver, messenger, shoe salesman, and singing waiter before starting his acting career.

He was discovered by film director Elia Kazan and actor John Garfield during his job at a Connecticut resort, which led to Conte finding stage work.

[citation needed] He eventually earned a scholarship to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City,[6] where he became a standout actor.

[citation needed] He made his film debut under the name Nicholas Conte in Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence (1939) at 20th Century Fox.

He played Tony, a hobo who meets up with Joe (Glenn Ford who was also making his film debut) and Anita (Jean Rogers).

Back at Fox, he was in Hathaway's crime drama Call Northside 777 (1948) as the prisoner whose innocence is proved by James Stewart.

Conte was top billed in Thieves' Highway (1949), directed by Jules Dassin, and co-starred with Gene Tierney in Otto Preminger's film noir Whirlpool (1950).

[16] Conte signed a contract with Universal Pictures, and he starred in some crime films: The Sleeping City (1950); Hollywood Story (1951), directed by William Castle; and The Raging Tide (1951).

[18][19] The first was the crime drama Highway Dragnet (1954), based on a story by Roger Corman, and he then went to England to make Mask of Dust (1954) for Hammer Films director Terence Fisher.

Conte broke out of B movies with the second lead in I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955), an MGM biopic about Lillian Roth starring Susan Hayward.

He co-starred with Judy Holliday in Full of Life (1956), played the lead in The Brothers Rico (1957), and had supporting roles in This Angry Age (1957) and They Came to Cordura (1959).

[23] Conte supported Frank Sinatra in Ocean's 11 (1960) but then focused on TV: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bus Stop, Naked City, Checkmate, Frontier Circus, The DuPont Show of the Week, The Untouchables, Alcoa Premiere, Going My Way, Kraft Mystery Theater, 77 Sunset Strip, The Reporter, Kraft Suspense Theatre and Arrest and Trial.

(1963), Circus World (1964) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) (playing Barabbas) and the lead in The Eyes of Annie Jones (1964) for Robert L. Lippert.