Born in New York City in 1904, Alper worked on Broadway from 1927 to 1940 in a number of shows including The Wild Man of Borneo, This is New York, Broadway Boy, Sailor Beware!, and Every Man for Himself.
Alper appeared in more than 200 films and TV series from the 1930s to the end of the 1960s. Quite often his work was uncredited and he never received a top billing in one of his movies. His first known screen credit was in The Royal Family of Broadway (1930) a part he had already played on Broadway in 1927/28.
His signature character was a chatty taxi driver, which he played at least 20 times, most notably in The Maltese Falcon (1941) as a friendly cabbie who drives Sam Spade, played by Humphrey Bogart, during a mid-film wild goose chase, as well as in such other well-known films as The Big Broadcast of 1937, Lady in the Dark and Angel on My Shoulder. His biggest role should have been the part of Gus Smith in the Alfred Hitchcock film Lifeboat in 1943. Due to his becoming ill right before the start of shooting in August, he was replaced by actor William Bendix. However, he worked for Hitchcock on three other movies: Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941), again as a cabbie, Saboteur (1942), and Strangers on a Train (1951).

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