Frank De Kova
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
The Rifleman
1958
Series
The Rifleman
Chief Hostay
1958
Series
Hawaii Five-O
Phil Kalama
1968
Series
Little House on the Prairie
Chief Kilowatt
1974
Series
Wagon Train
Obuki
1957
Series
Wagon Train
Isaiah Quickfox
1957
Series
Wagon Train
Ocheo
1957
Series
Wagon Train
True Oak
1957
Series
Wagon Train
Indian Chief
1957
Series
Maverick
1957
Series
Love, American Style
1969
Series
Cannon
1971
Series
Peter Gunn
1958
Series
Rawhide
Chief Tawyawp
1959
Series
Rawhide
Villegro
1959
Series
Lawman
Jed Barker
1958
Series
The Rockford Files
Nova
1974
Series
Cheyenne
1955
Series
Cheyenne
Spotted Bull
1955
Series
Cheyenne
Sitting Bull
1955
Series
Cheyenne
Dull Knife
1955
Series
Cheyenne
Chief Johnny Cake
1955
Series
Cheyenne
War Cloud
1955
Series
Cheyenne
Red Knife
1955
Series
Daniel Boone
Talakum
1964
Series
Daniel Boone
Saugus
1964
Series
Gunsmoke
Tobeel
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Mulligan Rives
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Leader
1955
Series
Thriller
Lieutenant Vincoli
1960
Series
The Untouchables
Louis 'Little New York' Campagna
1959
Series
The Untouchables
Anthony 'Tough Tony' Lamberto
1959
Series
The Untouchables
Louis Campagne
1959
Series
The Untouchables
Louie Campagna
1959
Series
The Untouchables
The Man
1959
Series
The Untouchables
Bugs Donovan
1959
Series
The Incredible Hulk
1977
Series
Route 66
1960
Series
Police Woman
Vito Angelo
1974
Series
The High Chaparral
Aguirre
1967
Series
The F.B.I.
Faber
1965
Series
The F.B.I.
Dracus
1965
Series
Baretta
1975
Series
Ben Casey
1961
Series
Hawaiian Eye
Pete Dailey
1959
Series
Laramie
1959
Series
Laramie
Tah-Za
1959
Series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Pedro
1955
Series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Senor Vargas
1955
Series
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Edward
1963
Series
The Rebel
Richard Aloysius Sturgis
1959
Series
Surfside 6
Stinger
1960
Film
The Ten Commandments
Abiram
1956
Series
Police Story
1973
Series
77 Sunset Strip
Jack Bent
1958
Series
77 Sunset Strip
Jerry Gordon
1958
Series
77 Sunset Strip
Dino Malatesta
1958
Series
The Deputy
Cowan
1959
Series
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Jimmy Napoli
1958
Series
It Takes a Thief
Gen. Tashkov
1968
Series
F Troop
Chief Wild Eagle
1965
Series
F Troop
Wild Eagle
1965
Series
The Detectives
Nordoff
1959
Series
The Third Man
Arlatti
1959
Series
The Third Man
Juan Rodriguez
1959
Series
Black Saddle
Calderon
1959
Series
The Tall Man
1960
Series
Outlaws
1960
Series
The Lawless Years
1959
Series
Toma
1973
Series
The Roaring 20's
1960
Series
Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans
Ottawa Chief
1957
The Greatest Show on Earth
Joseph
1963
Series
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
1954
Series
Johnny Staccato
1959
Series
The Dakotas
1963
Series
The Alaskans
1959
Series
The Islanders
Carlos Roca
1960
Series
The Gallant Men
1962
Series
Gunslinger
Don Ignacio Alesandro
1961
Film
The Mechanic
The Man
1972
Series
The Walter Winchell File
Stefan
1957
Series
The Californians
Ug-A-Mug
1957
Series
Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers
1956
Film
The Greatest Story Ever Told
The tormentor
1965
Series
Run, Joe, Run
1974
Series
The Troubleshooters
Nadi
1959
Series
The Swiss Family Robinson
1975
Series
Martin Kane, Private Eye
Thomas Randall
1949
Film
The Lone Ranger
Chief Red Hawk
1956
Film
The Brothers Karamazov
Capt. Vrublevski
1958
Film
The Man from Laramie
Padre
1955
Film
American Pop
Crisco (voice)
1981
Film
Day of the Outlaw
Denver, Bruhn's Gang
1959
Film
Coonskin
Managan (voice) / Ruby (voice) (uncredited)
1975
Film
Kiss of Death
Con Library (uncredited)
1947
Film
Machine-Gun Kelly
Harry
1958
Film
Those Calloways
Nigosh
1964
Film
Cowboy
Alcaide
1958
Film
Atlantis: The Lost Continent
Sonoy the Astrologer
1961
Film
Passion
Martinez (as Frank de Kova)
1954
Film
Drum Beat
Modoc Jim
1954
Film
The Don Is Dead
Giunta
1973
Film
Run of the Arrow
Red Cloud (as Frank De Kova)
1957
Film
Hey Good Lookin'
Old Vinnie (voice)
1982
Film
Santiago
Jingo
1956
Film
The Big Sky
Moleface (uncredited)
1952
Film
Heavy Traffic
Angelo "Angie" Corleone (voice)
1973
Film
Follow That Dream
Jack (as Frank de Kova)
1962
Film
Arrowhead
Chief Chattez
1953
Film
King of the Khyber Rifles
Ali Nur
1953
Film
The Wild Country
Two Dog
1970
Johnny Moccasin
Brave Scout
1956
Film
The Desert Song
Mindar
1953
Film
The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
Syndicate Chairman
1960
Film
Apache Territory
Lugo (as Frank deKova)
1958
Film
They Rode West
Isatai
1954
Film
Raiders of the Seven Seas
Captain Romero
1953
Film
Pillars of the Sky
Zachariah
1956
Film
The Jayhawkers!
Evans
1959
Film
All the Brothers Were Valiant
Stevenson
1953
Film
Teenage Cave Man
The Black-Bearded One
1958
Film
Strange Lady in Town
Anse Hatlo
1955
Film
Ride Out for Revenge
Chief Yellow Wolf
1957
Film
Valley of the Kings
Akmed Salah (uncredited)
1954
Film
Reprisal!
Charlie Washackle
1956
Film
The White Squaw
Yellow Elk
1956
Film
Split Second
Dummy
1953
Film
Cat in the Cage
Rachid Khan
1978
Film
Fighter Attack
Benedetto
1953
Film
The Sword of Ali Baba
Old Baba
1965
Film
Shack Out on 101
Prof. Claude Dillon
1955
Film
Holiday for Sinners
The Wiry Man
1952
Film
Appointment with a Shadow
Dutch Hayden
1957
Film
Johnny Firecloud
White Eagle
1975
Film
The Slams
Capiello
1973
Film
Crossfire
Albert Ambrose
1975
Film
Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes
Big Tony (as Frank deKova)
1974
Film
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion
The Man
1973
Film
Hold Back Tomorrow
Priest
1955
Film
Not One Shall Die
Egyptian Official
1957
Film
The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle
Narrator (voice)
1967
Film
Mafia on the Bounty
Rupolo
1980