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