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.
TV Shows(58)
The Incredible Hulk
1977
The Swiss Family Robinson
1975
Baretta
1975
Police Woman
1974
The Rockford Files
Nova (as Frank De Kova)
1974
Little House on the Prairie
Chief Kilowatt
1974
Run, Joe, Run
1974
Toma
1973
Police Story
1973
Cannon
1971
Love, American Style
1969
Hawaii Five-O
Phil Kalama
1968
It Takes a Thief
Gen. Tashkov
1968
The High Chaparral
Aguirre
1967
The F.B.I.
Faber
1965
F Troop
Chief Wild Eagle
1965
Daniel Boone
Talakum
1964
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Edward
1963
The Greatest Show on Earth
Joseph
1963
The Dakotas
1963
The Gallant Men
1962
Ben Casey
1961
Gunslinger
Don Ignacio Alesandro
1961
The Roaring 20's
1960
Route 66
1960
Surfside 6
Stinger
1960
The Islanders
Carlos Roca
1960
Outlaws
1960
Thriller
Lieutenant Vincoli
1960
The Tall Man
1960
The Detectives
Nordoff
1959
The Untouchables
Louis 'Little New York' Campagna
1959
Hawaiian Eye
Pete Dailey
1959
The Alaskans
1959
The Rebel
Richard Aloysius Sturgis
1959
The Third Man
Arlatti
1959
Laramie
1959
The Deputy
Cowan
1959
The Troubleshooters
Nadi
1959
Johnny Staccato
1959
The Lawless Years
1959
Black Saddle
Calderon
1959
Rawhide
Chief Tawyawp
1959
77 Sunset Strip
Jack Bent
1958
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Jimmy Napoli
1958
Lawman
Jed Barker
1958
The Rifleman
1958
Peter Gunn
1958
The Walter Winchell File
Stefan
1957
Maverick
1957
Wagon Train
Obuki
1957
Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans
Ottawa Chief
1957
Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers
1956
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Pedro
1955
Cheyenne
1955
Gunsmoke
Tobeel
1955
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
1954
Martin Kane, Private Eye
Thomas Randall
1949
Movies(57)
Hey Good Lookin'
Old Vinnie (voice)
1982
American Pop
Crisco (voice)
1981
Mafia on the Bounty
Rupolo
1980
Cat in the Cage
Rachid Khan
1978
Coonskin
Managan (voice) / Ruby (voice) (uncredited)
1975
Johnny Firecloud
White Eagle
1975
Crossfire
Albert Ambrose
1975
Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes
Big Tony (as Frank deKova)
1974
The Don Is Dead
Giunta
1973
The Slams
Capiello
1973
Heavy Traffic
Angelo "Angie" Corleone (voice)
1973
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion
The Man
1973
The Mechanic
The Man
1972
The Wild Country
Two Dog
1970
The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle
Narrator (voice)
1967
The Greatest Story Ever Told
The tormentor
1965
The Sword of Ali Baba
Old Baba
1965
Those Calloways
Nigosh
1964
Follow That Dream
Jack (as Frank de Kova)
1962
Atlantis: The Lost Continent
Sonoy the Astrologer
1961
The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
Syndicate Chairman
1960
The Jayhawkers!
Evans
1959
Day of the Outlaw
Denver, Bruhn's Gang
1959
Apache Territory
Lugo (as Frank deKova)
1958
Teenage Cave Man
The Black-Bearded One
1958
Machine-Gun Kelly
Harry
1958
The Brothers Karamazov
Capt. Vrublevski
1958
Cowboy
Alcaide
1958
Ride Out for Revenge
Chief Yellow Wolf
1957
Run of the Arrow
Red Cloud (as Frank De Kova)
1957
Appointment with a Shadow
Dutch Hayden
1957
Not One Shall Die
Egyptian Official
1957
Reprisal!
Charlie Washackle
1956
The White Squaw
Yellow Elk
1956
The Ten Commandments
Abiram
1956
Pillars of the Sky
Zachariah
1956
Santiago
Jingo
1956
Johnny Moccasin
Brave Scout
1956
The Lone Ranger
Chief Red Hawk
1956
Shack Out on 101
Prof. Claude Dillon
1955
Hold Back Tomorrow
Priest
1955
The Man from Laramie
Padre
1955
Strange Lady in Town
Anse Hatlo
1955
They Rode West
Isatai
1954
Drum Beat
Modoc Jim
1954
Passion
Martinez (as Frank de Kova)
1954
Valley of the Kings
Akmed Salah (uncredited)
1954
King of the Khyber Rifles
Ali Nur
1953
Fighter Attack
Benedetto
1953
All the Brothers Were Valiant
Stevenson
1953
Arrowhead
Chief Chattez
1953
The Desert Song
Mindar
1953
Raiders of the Seven Seas
Captain Romero
1953
Split Second
Dummy
1953
The Big Sky
Moleface (uncredited)
1952
Holiday for Sinners
The Wiry Man
1952
Kiss of Death
Con Library (uncredited)
1947