Frank De Kova
Biography
Frank DeKova parlayed a sinister scowl, piercing eyes and an all-around menacing attitude into a long career of playing cold-blooded trigger-men, rampaging Indian chiefs, brutal Mexican army officers and the like. So it would probably come as a shock to those who know his work to discover that, before he became an actor, he was--of all things--a schoolteacher. Born in New York in 1910, DeKova gave up teaching for the stage, and played in many Shakespearean productions before getting work on Broadway. One of his first starring roles was in the classic detective play "Detective Story", which got him noticed and brought to Hollywood. He debuted in Viva Zapata! (1952) as the devious Mexican colonel who sets up Zapata's assassination. For the next several years he played an assortment of gangsters, killers, gunfighters and Indians--with time out to play a prehistoric patriarch in Roger Corman's campy Teenage Cave Man (1958)--and did much television work, including a standout job as a Mafia hit-man assigned to kill Elliot Ness in Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse: The Untouchables: Part 1 (1959). The role for which he will be most remembered, however, is probably the one that was his most atypical: the scheming, somewhat untrustworthy but very funny Hekawi Chief Wild Eagle, the partner to Forrest Tucker's Sgt. O'Rourke in O'Rourke's various schemes to make money, in the western comedy series F Troop (1965). He showed a previously unknown talent for comedy and managed to steal most of the scenes he was in from such veterans as Tucker and Larry Storch. He died in his sleep in 1981.
Known For
All Movies (57)
- Hey Good Lookin'1982 · as Old Vinnie (voice)
- American Pop1981 · as Crisco (voice)
- Mafia on the Bounty1980 · as Rupolo
- Cat in the Cage1978 · as Rachid Khan
- Coonskin1975 · as Managan (voice) / Ruby (voice) (uncredited)
- Johnny Firecloud1975 · as White Eagle
- Crossfire1975 · as Albert Ambrose
- Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes1974 · as Big Tony (as Frank deKova)
- The Don Is Dead1973 · as Giunta
- The Slams1973 · as Capiello
- Heavy Traffic1973 · as Angelo "Angie" Corleone (voice)
- Frasier, the Sensuous Lion1973 · as The Man
- The Mechanic1972 · as The Man
- The Wild Country1970 · as Two Dog
- The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle1967 · as Narrator (voice)
- The Greatest Story Ever Told1965 · as The tormentor
- The Sword of Ali Baba1965 · as Old Baba
- Those Calloways1964 · as Nigosh
- Follow That Dream1962 · as Jack (as Frank de Kova)
- Atlantis: The Lost Continent1961 · as Sonoy the Astrologer
- The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond1960 · as Syndicate Chairman
- The Jayhawkers!1959 · as Evans
- Day of the Outlaw1959 · as Denver, Bruhn's Gang
- Apache Territory1958 · as Lugo (as Frank deKova)
- Teenage Cave Man1958 · as The Black-Bearded One
- Machine-Gun Kelly1958 · as Harry
- The Brothers Karamazov1958 · as Capt. Vrublevski
- Cowboy1958 · as Alcaide
- Ride Out for Revenge1957 · as Chief Yellow Wolf
- Run of the Arrow1957 · as Red Cloud (as Frank De Kova)
- Appointment with a Shadow1957 · as Dutch Hayden
- Not One Shall Die1957 · as Egyptian Official
- Reprisal!1956 · as Charlie Washackle
- The White Squaw1956 · as Yellow Elk
- The Ten Commandments1956 · as Abiram
- Pillars of the Sky1956 · as Zachariah
- Santiago1956 · as Jingo
- Johnny Moccasin1956 · as Brave Scout
- The Lone Ranger1956 · as Chief Red Hawk
- Shack Out on 1011955 · as Prof. Claude Dillon
- Hold Back Tomorrow1955 · as Priest
- The Man from Laramie1955 · as Padre
- Strange Lady in Town1955 · as Anse Hatlo
- They Rode West1954 · as Isatai
- Drum Beat1954 · as Modoc Jim
- Passion1954 · as Martinez (as Frank de Kova)
- Valley of the Kings1954 · as Akmed Salah (uncredited)
- King of the Khyber Rifles1953 · as Ali Nur
- Fighter Attack1953 · as Benedetto
- All the Brothers Were Valiant1953 · as Stevenson
- Arrowhead1953 · as Chief Chattez
- The Desert Song1953 · as Mindar
- Raiders of the Seven Seas1953 · as Captain Romero
- Split Second1953 · as Dummy
- The Big Sky1952 · as Moleface (uncredited)
- Holiday for Sinners1952 · as The Wiry Man
- Kiss of Death1947 · as Con Library (uncredited)
All TV Shows (86)
- The Incredible Hulk1977
- The Swiss Family Robinson1975
- Baretta1975
- Police Woman1974
- The Rockford Files1974 · as Nova
- Police Woman1974 · as Vito Angelo
- Little House on the Prairie1974 · as Chief Kilowatt
- Run, Joe, Run1974
- Toma1973
- Police Story1973
- Cannon1971
- Love, American Style1969
- Hawaii Five-O1968 · as Phil Kalama
- It Takes a Thief1968 · as Gen. Tashkov
- The High Chaparral1967 · as Aguirre
- The F.B.I.1965 · as Faber
- The F.B.I.1965 · as Dracus
- F Troop1965 · as Chief Wild Eagle
- F Troop1965 · as Wild Eagle
- Daniel Boone1964 · as Talakum
- Daniel Boone1964 · as Saugus
- Kraft Suspense Theatre1963 · as Edward
- The Greatest Show on Earth1963 · as Joseph
- The Dakotas1963
- The Gallant Men1962
- Ben Casey1961
- Gunslinger1961 · as Don Ignacio Alesandro
- The Roaring 20's1960
- Route 661960
- Surfside 61960 · as Stinger
- The Islanders1960 · as Carlos Roca
- Outlaws1960
- Thriller1960 · as Lieutenant Vincoli
- The Tall Man1960
- The Detectives1959 · as Nordoff
- The Untouchables1959 · as Louis 'Little New York' Campagna
- The Untouchables1959 · as Anthony 'Tough Tony' Lamberto
- The Untouchables1959 · as Louis Campagne
- The Untouchables1959 · as Louie Campagna
- The Untouchables1959 · as The Man
- The Untouchables1959 · as Bugs Donovan
- Hawaiian Eye1959 · as Pete Dailey
- The Alaskans1959
- The Rebel1959 · as Richard Aloysius Sturgis
- The Third Man1959 · as Arlatti
- The Third Man1959 · as Juan Rodriguez
- Laramie1959
- Laramie1959 · as Tah-Za
- The Deputy1959 · as Cowan
- The Troubleshooters1959 · as Nadi
- Johnny Staccato1959
- The Lawless Years1959
- Black Saddle1959 · as Calderon
- Rawhide1959 · as Chief Tawyawp
- Rawhide1959 · as Villegro
- 77 Sunset Strip1958 · as Jack Bent
- 77 Sunset Strip1958 · as Jerry Gordon
- 77 Sunset Strip1958 · as Dino Malatesta
- Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse1958 · as Jimmy Napoli
- Lawman1958 · as Jed Barker
- The Rifleman1958
- The Rifleman1958 · as Chief Hostay
- Peter Gunn1958
- The Walter Winchell File1957 · as Stefan
- Maverick1957
- Wagon Train1957 · as Obuki
- Wagon Train1957 · as Isaiah Quickfox
- Wagon Train1957 · as Ocheo
- Wagon Train1957 · as True Oak
- Wagon Train1957 · as Indian Chief
- Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans1957 · as Ottawa Chief
- Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers1956
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents1955 · as Pedro
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents1955 · as Senor Vargas
- Cheyenne1955
- Cheyenne1955 · as Spotted Bull
- Cheyenne1955 · as Sitting Bull
- Cheyenne1955 · as Dull Knife
- Cheyenne1955 · as Chief Johnny Cake
- Cheyenne1955 · as War Cloud
- Cheyenne1955 · as Red Knife
- Gunsmoke1955 · as Tobeel
- Gunsmoke1955 · as Mulligan Rives
- Gunsmoke1955 · as Leader
- The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin1954
- Martin Kane, Private Eye1949 · as Thomas Randall