Frank De Kova
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.
Known for
Acting115
movieHey Good Lookin'
1982
Old Vinnie (voice)
movieAmerican Pop
1981
Crisco (voice)
movieCat in the Cage
1978
Rachid Khan
movieCoonskin
1975
Managan (voice) / Ruby (voice) (uncredited)
movieJohnny Firecloud
1975
White Eagle
movieCrossfire
1975
Albert Ambrose
movieBaby Needs a New Pair of Shoes
1974
Big Tony (as Frank deKova)
tvPolice Woman
1974
Vito Angelo
tvLittle House on the Prairie
1974
Chief Kilowatt
movieThe Don Is Dead
1973
Giunta
movieThe Slams
1973
Capiello
movieHeavy Traffic
1973
Angelo "Angie" Corleone (voice)
movieThe Mechanic
1972
The Man
movieThe Wild Country
1970
Two Dog
tvHawaii Five-O
1968
Phil Kalama
tvIt Takes a Thief
1968
Gen. Tashkov
tvThe High Chaparral
1967
Aguirre
movieThe Legend of the Boy and the Eagle
1967
Narrator (voice)
tvThe F.B.I.
1965
Faber / Dracus
tvF Troop
1965
Chief Wild Eagle / Wild Eagle
movieThe Greatest Story Ever Told
1965
The tormentor
movieThe Sword of Ali Baba
1965
Old Baba
movieThose Calloways
1964
Nigosh
tvDaniel Boone
1964
Talakum / Saugus
movieFollow That Dream
1962
Jack (as Frank de Kova)
movieAtlantis: The Lost Continent
1961
Sonoy the Astrologer
tvGunslinger
1961
Don Ignacio Alesandro
tvSurfside 6
1960
Stinger
tvThe Islanders
1960
Carlos Roca
tvThriller
1960
Lieutenant Vincoli
movieThe Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
1960
Syndicate Chairman
tvThe Detectives
1959
Nordoff
tvThe Untouchables
1959
Louis 'Little New York' Campagna / Anthony 'Tough Tony' Lamberto / Louis Campagne / Louie Campagna / The Man / Bugs Donovan
tvHawaiian Eye
1959
Pete Dailey
tvThe Rebel
1959
Richard Aloysius Sturgis
tvThe Third Man
1959
Arlatti / Juan Rodriguez
tvLaramie
1959
Tah-Za
tvThe Deputy
1959
Cowan
movieDay of the Outlaw
1959
Denver, Bruhn's Gang
tvBlack Saddle
1959
Calderon
tvRawhide
1959
Chief Tawyawp / Villegro
tv77 Sunset Strip
1958
Jack Bent / Jerry Gordon / Dino Malatesta
tvWestinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
Jimmy Napoli
tvLawman
1958
Jed Barker
tvThe Rifleman
1958
Chief Hostay
movieApache Territory
1958
Lugo (as Frank deKova)
movieTeenage Cave Man
1958
The Black-Bearded One
movieThe Brothers Karamazov
1958
Capt. Vrublevski
movieCowboy
1958
Alcaide
movieRide Out for Revenge
1957
Chief Yellow Wolf
tvWagon Train
1957
Obuki / Isaiah Quickfox / Ocheo / True Oak / Indian Chief
movieRun of the Arrow
1957
Red Cloud (as Frank De Kova)
movieAppointment with a Shadow
1957
Dutch Hayden
tvHawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans
1957
Ottawa Chief
movieNot One Shall Die
1957
Egyptian Official
movieReprisal!
1956
Charlie Washackle
movieThe White Squaw
1956
Yellow Elk
moviePillars of the Sky
1956
Zachariah
movieSantiago
1956
Jingo
Johnny Moccasin
1956
Brave Scout
movieThe Lone Ranger
1956
Chief Red Hawk
movieShack Out on 101
1955
Prof. Claude Dillon
tvAlfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Pedro / Senor Vargas
tvCheyenne
1955
Spotted Bull / Sitting Bull / Dull Knife / Chief Johnny Cake / War Cloud / Red Knife
tvGunsmoke
1955
Tobeel / Mulligan Rives / Leader
movieStrange Lady in Town
1955
Anse Hatlo
movieThey Rode West
1954
Isatai
movieDrum Beat
1954
Modoc Jim
moviePassion
1954
Martinez (as Frank de Kova)
movieValley of the Kings
1954
Akmed Salah (uncredited)
movieFighter Attack
1953
Benedetto
movieArrowhead
1953
Chief Chattez
movieThe Desert Song
1953
Mindar
movieRaiders of the Seven Seas
1953
Captain Romero
movieThe Big Sky
1952
Moleface (uncredited)
movieHoliday for Sinners
1952
The Wiry Man
tvMartin Kane, Private Eye
1949
Thomas Randall
movieKiss of Death
1947
Con Library (uncredited)