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