The Third Man records had been sold in Britain, with the teen-aged Princess Margaret a reported fan. Following its release in the US in 1950 (see 1950 in music), ""The Third Man" Theme" spent 11 weeks at number one on "Billboard"s US Best Sellers in Stores chart, from 29 April to 8 July. The exposure made Anton Karas an international star, and the trailer for the film stated that "the famous musical score by Anton Karas" would have the audience "in a dither with his zither". Academy Awards British Academy Film Awards Cannes Film Festival Directors Guild of America National Board of Review
Archie Karas been compared to Nick the Greek, another high-stakes gambler of Greek origin. Karas was born on November 1, 1950 in Antypata on the island of Cephalonia, Greece. He grew up in poverty and had to shoot marbles as a teenager to avoid going hungry. His father, Nickolas, was a construction worker who struggled financially. Karas ran away from home at the age of 15 after, in a rage, his father threw a shovel at him, barely missing his head. He never saw his father again. Nickolas died four years later. Karas worked as a waiter on a ship, making $60