Frank De Kova

Known For	Acting
Birthday	Mar 17, 1910
Died	Oct 15, 1981 (71)
Birthplace	New York City, New York, USA
Popularity	0.3 (history)
Updated	Dec 19, 2024 (Update)
Entry Date	Apr 13, 2024
Links	TMDb IMDb

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, befo ... re 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'

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

Johnny Firecloud

1975

as White Eagle

Coonskin

1975

as Managan (voice) / Ruby (voice) (uncredited)

Crossfire

1975

as Albert Ambrose

Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes

1974

as Big Tony (as Frank deKova)

Heavy Traffic

1973

as Angelo "Angie" Corleone (voice)

The Slams

1973

as Capiello

The Don Is Dead

1973

as Giunta

The Mechanic

1972

as The Man

The Wild Country

1970

as Two Dog

The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle

1967

as Narrator (voice)

The Sword of Ali Baba

1965

as Old Baba

Those Calloways

1965

as Nigosh

The Greatest Story Ever Told

1965

as The tormentor

Follow That Dream

1962

as Jack (as Frank de Kova)

Atlantis: The Lost Continent

1961

as Sonoy the Astrologer

The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

1960

as Syndicate Chairman

The Jayhawkers!

1959

as Evans

Day of the Outlaw

1959

as Denver, Bruhn's Gang

Teenage Cave Man

1958

as The Black-Bearded One

Machine-Gun Kelly

1958

as Harry

Apache Territory

1958

as Lugo (as Frank deKova)

Cowboy

1958

as Alcaide

The Brothers Karamazov

1958

as Capt. Vrublevski

Appointment with a Shadow

1957

as Dutch Hayden

Ride Out for Revenge

1957

as Chief Yellow Wolf

Run of the Arrow

1957

as Red Cloud (as Frank De Kova)

Not One Shall Die

1957

as Egyptian Official

Reprisal!

1956

as Charlie Washackle

Santiago

1956

as Jingo

The White Squaw

1956

as Yellow Elk

The Lone Ranger

1956

as Chief Red Hawk

The Ten Commandments

1956

as Abiram

Pillars of the Sky

1956

as Zachariah

Hold Back Tomorrow

1955

as Priest

Shack Out on 101

1955

as Prof. Claude Dillon

Strange Lady in Town

1955

as Anse Hatlo

The Man from Laramie

1955

as Padre

Passion

1954

as Martinez (as Frank de Kova)

They Rode West

1954

as Isatai

Drum Beat

1954

as Modoc Jim

Fighter Attack

1953

as Benedetto

King of the Khyber Rifles

1953

as Ali Nur

The Desert Song

1953

as Mindar

Split Second

1953

as Dummy

Arrowhead

1953

as Chief Chattez

Raiders of the Seven Seas

1953

as Captain Romero

All the Brothers Were Valiant

1953

as Stevenson

Holiday for Sinners

1952

as The Wiry Man

The Big Sky

1952

as Moleface (uncredited)

Kiss of Death

1947

as Con Library (uncredited)

No data available

Organization	Category	Movie

F Troop

as Chief Wild Eagle

Episodes: 65

First Aired: Sep 14, 1965

Gunsmoke

as Tobeel

Episodes: 3

First Aired: Sep 10, 1955

Rawhide

as Chief Tawyawp

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Jan 09, 1959

Martin Kane, Private Eye

as Thomas Randall

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Sep 01, 1949

Kraft Suspense Theatre

as Edward

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 10, 1963

The F.B.I.

as Faber

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 19, 1965

Hawaii Five-O

as Phil Kalama

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 20, 1968

Surfside 6

as Stinger

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 06, 1960

The Islanders

as Carlos Roca

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1960

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

as Pedro

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1955

Daniel Boone

as Talakum

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 24, 1964

The High Chaparral

as Aguirre

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 10, 1967

Thriller

as Lieutenant Vincoli

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 13, 1960

Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans

as Ottawa Chief

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Apr 03, 1957

Black Saddle

as Calderon

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 10, 1959

The Rebel

as Richard Aloysius Sturgis

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 04, 1959

The Detectives

as Nordoff

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 16, 1959

Cheyenne

as Spotted Bull

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 20, 1955

Wagon Train

as Obuki

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 18, 1957

The Untouchables

as Louis 'Little New York' Campagna

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 15, 1959

Hawaiian Eye

as Pete Dailey

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 07, 1959

The Untouchables

as Anthony 'Tough Tony' Lamberto

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 15, 1959

The Untouchables

as Louis Campagne

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 15, 1959

F Troop

as Wild Eagle

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 14, 1965

The F.B.I.

as Dracus

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 19, 1965

Gunsmoke

as Mulligan Rives

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 10, 1955

Cheyenne

as Sitting Bull

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 20, 1955

Gunsmoke

as Leader

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 10, 1955

The Walter Winchell File

as Stefan

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1957

Daniel Boone

as Saugus

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 24, 1964

The Third Man

as Arlatti

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1959

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

as Senor Vargas

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1955

The Untouchables

as Jimmy Napoli

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 15, 1959

The Rockford Files

as Nova (as Frank De Kova)

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 13, 1974

Wagon Train

as Isaiah Quickfox

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 18, 1957

Wagon Train

as Ocheo

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 18, 1957

77 Sunset Strip

as Jack Bent

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 10, 1958

77 Sunset Strip

as Jerry Gordon

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 10, 1958

The Deputy

as Cowan

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 12, 1959

The Untouchables

as Louie Campagna

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 15, 1959

Cheyenne

as Dull Knife

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 20, 1955

The Untouchables

as The Man

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 15, 1959

Police Woman

as Vito Angelo

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 13, 1974

The Third Man

as Juan Rodriguez

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1959

Cheyenne

Episodes: 3

First Aired: Sep 20, 1955

Little House on the Prairie

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Sep 11, 1974

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Oct 15, 1954

The Roaring 20's

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Oct 15, 1960

The Gallant Men

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 05, 1962

77 Sunset Strip

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 10, 1958

The Incredible Hulk

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Nov 04, 1977

Route 66

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 07, 1960

Baretta

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 17, 1975

Cannon

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 14, 1971

Johnny Staccato

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 10, 1959

Run, Joe, Run

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 07, 1974

The Tall Man

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 10, 1960

The Swiss Family Robinson

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 14, 1975

The Greatest Show on Earth

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 17, 1963

Outlaws

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 26, 1960

The Lawless Years

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Apr 16, 1959

Police Woman

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 13, 1974

Police Story

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Mar 20, 1973

Peter Gunn

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 22, 1958

The Alaskans

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 04, 1959

The Rifleman

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 30, 1958

The Dakotas

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 07, 1963

Ben Casey

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1961

Laramie

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 15, 1959

Toma

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Mar 21, 1973

Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 21, 1956

Maverick

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 22, 1957

The Rifleman

as Chief Hostay

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 30, 1958

Love, American Style

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 29, 1969

Popularity Metrics

Popularity History

Year	Month	Avg	Max	Min
2024	6	11	18	6
2024	7	16	27	7
2024	8	12	29	6
2024	9	9	22	2
2024	10	4	9	1
2024	11	3	7	1
2024	12	6	11	2
2025	1	10	18	3
2025	2	5	11	1
2025	3	5	9	1
2025	5	1	2	1
2025	6	1	1	1
2025	7	0	0	0
2025	8	2	10	0

Trending Rank

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Frank De Kova

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Known For

Filmography

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