Beyond Hollywood, Balsam was also a popular character actor in Italian films, beginning in 1960 when he starred in the Luigi Comencini film "Everybody Go Home." He would star in several "poliziottesco" films throughout the 1970s, directed by the likes of Fernando Di Leo and Enzo G. Castellari. Balsam's roles in these films would be re-dubbed into Italian, but he would loop his own lines in the English-language export versions. Balsam maintained close ties to Italy even after the end of the "poliziottesco" trend, traveling there for both professional and personal reasons, and starring in the Italian-produced television series "Ocean" and "La piovra."