Frank De Kova
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- March 17, 1910
- Died
- October 15, 1981 (aged 71)
- Birthplace
- New York City, New York, USA
Biography
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
Filmography
Hey Good Lookin'
Movie · as Old Vinnie (voice)
American Pop
Movie · as Crisco (voice)
Mafia on the Bounty
Movie · as Rupolo
Cat in the Cage
Movie · as Rachid Khan
The Incredible Hulk
TV · 1 ep
Crossfire
Movie · as Albert Ambrose
Johnny Firecloud
Movie · as White Eagle
Coonskin
Movie · as Managan (voice) / Ruby (voice) (uncredited)
Baretta
TV · 1 ep
The Swiss Family Robinson
TV · 1 ep
Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes
Movie · as Big Tony (as Frank deKova)
Little House on the Prairie
TV · as Chief Kilowatt · 2 eps
Run, Joe, Run
TV · 1 ep
The Rockford Files
TV · as Nova · 1 ep
Police Woman
TV · as Vito Angelo · 1 ep
Heavy Traffic
Movie · as Angelo "Angie" Corleone (voice)
The Slams
Movie · as Capiello
The Don Is Dead
Movie · as Giunta
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion
Movie · as The Man
Police Story
TV · 1 ep
Toma
TV · 1 ep
The Mechanic
Movie · as The Man
Cannon
TV · 1 ep
The Wild Country
Movie · as Two Dog
Hawaii Five-O
TV · as Phil Kalama · 1 ep
Love, American Style
TV · 1 ep
It Takes a Thief
TV · as Gen. Tashkov · 2 eps
The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
The High Chaparral
TV · as Aguirre · 1 ep
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Movie · as The tormentor
The Sword of Ali Baba
Movie · as Old Baba
F Troop
TV · as Chief Wild Eagle · 65 eps
The F.B.I.
TV · as Faber, Dracus · 1 ep
Those Calloways
Movie · as Nigosh
Daniel Boone
TV · as Talakum, Saugus · 1 ep
Kraft Suspense Theatre
TV · as Edward · 1 ep
The Dakotas
TV · 1 ep
The Greatest Show on Earth
TV · as Joseph · 1 ep
Follow That Dream
Movie · as Jack (as Frank de Kova)
The Gallant Men
TV · 1 ep
Atlantis: The Lost Continent
Movie · as Sonoy the Astrologer
Ben Casey
TV · 1 ep
Gunslinger
TV · as Don Ignacio Alesandro · 1 ep
The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
Movie · as Syndicate Chairman
Route 66
TV · 1 ep
Surfside 6
TV · as Stinger · 1 ep
The Islanders
TV · as Carlos Roca · 1 ep
The Tall Man
TV · 1 ep
Outlaws
TV · 1 ep
Thriller
TV · as Lieutenant Vincoli · 1 ep
The Roaring 20's
TV · 2 eps
The Jayhawkers!
Movie · as Evans
Day of the Outlaw
Movie · as Denver, Bruhn's Gang
Johnny Staccato
TV · 1 ep
The Lawless Years
TV · 1 ep
Rawhide
TV · as Chief Tawyawp, Villegro · 1 ep
The Alaskans
TV · 1 ep
Black Saddle
TV · as Calderon · 1 ep
The Rebel
TV · as Richard Aloysius Sturgis · 1 ep
Laramie
TV · as Tah-Za · 1 ep
The Detectives
TV · as Nordoff · 1 ep
The Untouchables
TV · as Louis 'Little New York' Campagna, Anthony 'Tough Tony' Lamberto, Louis Campagne, Louie Campagna, The Man, Bugs Donovan · 1 ep
Hawaiian Eye
TV · as Pete Dailey · 1 ep
The Third Man
TV · as Arlatti, Juan Rodriguez · 1 ep
The Deputy
TV · as Cowan · 1 ep
The Troubleshooters
TV · as Nadi · 1 ep
Machine-Gun Kelly
Movie · as Harry
The Brothers Karamazov
Movie · as Capt. Vrublevski
Teenage Cave Man
Movie · as The Black-Bearded One
Cowboy
Movie · as Alcaide
Apache Territory
Movie · as Lugo (as Frank deKova)
Peter Gunn
TV · 1 ep
The Rifleman
TV · as Chief Hostay · 1 ep
77 Sunset Strip
TV · as Jack Bent, Jerry Gordon, Dino Malatesta · 1 ep
Lawman
TV · as Jed Barker · 1 ep
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
TV · as Jimmy Napoli · 1 ep
Appointment with a Shadow
Movie · as Dutch Hayden
Ride Out for Revenge
Movie · as Chief Yellow Wolf
Run of the Arrow
Movie · as Red Cloud (as Frank De Kova)
Not One Shall Die
Movie · as Egyptian Official
Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans
TV · as Ottawa Chief · 1 ep
Maverick
TV · 1 ep
Wagon Train
TV · as Obuki, Isaiah Quickfox, Ocheo, True Oak, Indian Chief · 1 ep
The Walter Winchell File
TV · as Stefan · 1 ep
The Californians
TV · as Ug-A-Mug · 1 ep
The Ten Commandments
Movie · as Abiram
The Lone Ranger
Movie · as Chief Red Hawk
Pillars of the Sky
Movie · as Zachariah
The White Squaw
Movie · as Yellow Elk
Johnny Moccasin
Movie · as Brave Scout
Reprisal!
Movie · as Charlie Washackle
Santiago
Movie · as Jingo
Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers
TV · 1 ep
Shack Out on 101
Movie · as Prof. Claude Dillon
The Man from Laramie
Movie · as Padre
Hold Back Tomorrow
Movie · as Priest
Strange Lady in Town
Movie · as Anse Hatlo
Cheyenne
TV · as Spotted Bull, Sitting Bull, Dull Knife, Chief Johnny Cake, War Cloud, Red Knife · 1 ep
Gunsmoke
TV · as Tobeel, Mulligan Rives, Leader · 3 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV · as Pedro, Senor Vargas · 1 ep
Drum Beat
Movie · as Modoc Jim
They Rode West
Movie · as Isatai
Passion
Movie · as Martinez (as Frank de Kova)
Valley of the Kings
Movie · as Akmed Salah (uncredited)
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
TV · 2 eps
Split Second
Movie · as Dummy
Arrowhead
Movie · as Chief Chattez
King of the Khyber Rifles
Movie · as Ali Nur
Raiders of the Seven Seas
Movie · as Captain Romero
Fighter Attack
Movie · as Benedetto
The Desert Song
Movie · as Mindar
All the Brothers Were Valiant
Movie · as Stevenson
Holiday for Sinners
Movie · as The Wiry Man
The Big Sky
Movie · as Moleface (uncredited)
Viva Zapata!
Movie · as Colonel Guajardo
Martin Kane, Private Eye
TV · as Thomas Randall · 2 eps
Kiss of Death
Movie · as Con Library (uncredited)