Frank De Kova

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

140

Gender

Male

Birthday

1910-03-17

Day of death

1981-10-15 (71 years old)

Place of Birth

New York City, New York, USA

Frank De Kova

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

  • Little House on the Prairie

    Little House on the Prairie

  • Wagon Train

    Wagon Train

  • Wagon Train

    Wagon Train

  • Wagon Train

    Wagon Train

  • Wagon Train

    Wagon Train

  • Wagon Train

    Wagon Train

  • Maverick

    Maverick

  • The Rockford Files

    The Rockford Files

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • The Rifleman

    The Rifleman

  • The Rifleman

    The Rifleman

  • Hawaii Five-O

    Hawaii Five-O

  • Love, American Style

    Love, American Style

  • The Incredible Hulk

    The Incredible Hulk

  • Cannon

    Cannon

  • The Untouchables

    The Untouchables

  • The Untouchables

    The Untouchables

  • The Untouchables

    The Untouchables

  • The Untouchables

    The Untouchables

  • The Untouchables

    The Untouchables

  • The Untouchables

    The Untouchables

  • Gunsmoke

    Gunsmoke

  • Gunsmoke

    Gunsmoke

  • Gunsmoke

    Gunsmoke

  • Daniel Boone

    Daniel Boone

  • Daniel Boone

    Daniel Boone

  • Rawhide

    Rawhide

  • The High Chaparral

    The High Chaparral

  • The Rebel

    The Rebel

  • Lawman

    Lawman

  • Ben Casey

    Ben Casey

  • Route 66

    Route 66

  • Hawaiian Eye

    Hawaiian Eye

  • Peter Gunn

    Peter Gunn

  • Baretta

    Baretta

  • The F.B.I.

    The F.B.I.

  • The F.B.I.

    The F.B.I.

  • Laramie

    Laramie

  • Laramie

    Laramie

  • Police Woman

    Police Woman

  • Police Woman

    Police Woman

  • The Ten Commandments

    The Ten Commandments

  • 77 Sunset Strip

    77 Sunset Strip

  • 77 Sunset Strip

    77 Sunset Strip

  • 77 Sunset Strip

    77 Sunset Strip

  • Thriller

    Thriller

  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents

    Alfred Hitchcock Presents

  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents

    Alfred Hitchcock Presents

  • Surfside 6

    Surfside 6

  • Kraft Suspense Theatre

    Kraft Suspense Theatre

  • Appointment with a Shadow

    Appointment with a Shadow

  • The Detectives

    The Detectives

  • Police Story

    Police Story

  • F Troop

    F Troop

  • F Troop

    F Troop

  • The Roaring 20's

    The Roaring 20's

  • Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

    Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

  • The Tall Man

    The Tall Man

  • The Deputy

    The Deputy

  • Outlaws

    Outlaws

  • The Third Man

    The Third Man

  • The Third Man

    The Third Man

  • Cowboy

    Cowboy

  • Reprisal!

    Reprisal!

  • Apache Territory

    Apache Territory

  • Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans

    Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans

  • Black Saddle

    Black Saddle

  • American Pop

    American Pop

  • Heavy Traffic

    Heavy Traffic

  • Coonskin

    Coonskin

  • Drum Beat

    Drum Beat

  • The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

    The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

  • The Greatest Show on Earth

    The Greatest Show on Earth

  • The Greatest Story Ever Told

    The Greatest Story Ever Told

  • The Alaskans

    The Alaskans

  • Johnny Staccato

    Johnny Staccato

  • The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin

    The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin

  • Johnny Moccasin

    Johnny Moccasin

  • Fighter Attack

    Fighter Attack

  • Split Second

    Split Second

  • The Slams

    The Slams

  • The Islanders

    The Islanders

  • The Man from Laramie

    The Man from Laramie

  • Arrowhead

    Arrowhead

  • The Walter Winchell File

    The Walter Winchell File

  • The Dakotas

    The Dakotas

  • The Big Sky

    The Big Sky

  • The Gallant Men

    The Gallant Men

  • Toma

    Toma

  • The Lawless Years

    The Lawless Years

  • The Swiss Family Robinson

    The Swiss Family Robinson

  • Santiago

    Santiago

  • The Lone Ranger

    The Lone Ranger

  • Day of the Outlaw

    Day of the Outlaw

  • Passion

    Passion

  • They Rode West

    They Rode West

  • The Mechanic

    The Mechanic

  • The Wild Country

    The Wild Country

  • All the Brothers Were Valiant

    All the Brothers Were Valiant

  • Hey Good Lookin'

    Hey Good Lookin'

  • Valley of the Kings

    Valley of the Kings

  • Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers

    Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers

  • Run, Joe, Run

    Run, Joe, Run

  • The Desert Song

    The Desert Song

  • The Brothers Karamazov

    The Brothers Karamazov

  • Teenage Cave Man

    Teenage Cave Man

  • The Don Is Dead

    The Don Is Dead

  • Run of the Arrow

    Run of the Arrow

  • King of the Khyber Rifles

    King of the Khyber Rifles

  • Atlantis: The Lost Continent

    Atlantis: The Lost Continent

  • Kiss of Death

    Kiss of Death

  • The White Squaw

    The White Squaw

  • Pillars of the Sky

    Pillars of the Sky

  • Strange Lady in Town

    Strange Lady in Town

  • Follow That Dream

    Follow That Dream

  • Hold Back Tomorrow

    Hold Back Tomorrow

  • Raiders of the Seven Seas

    Raiders of the Seven Seas

  • Gunslinger

    Gunslinger

  • The Troubleshooters

    The Troubleshooters

  • Machine-Gun Kelly

    Machine-Gun Kelly

  • Cat in the Cage

    Cat in the Cage

  • Ride Out for Revenge

    Ride Out for Revenge

  • Shack Out on 101

    Shack Out on 101

  • The Sword of Ali Baba

    The Sword of Ali Baba

  • Martin Kane, Private Eye

    Martin Kane, Private Eye

  • Holiday for Sinners

    Holiday for Sinners

  • Not One Shall Die

    Not One Shall Die

  • Frasier, the Sensuous Lion

    Frasier, the Sensuous Lion

  • Those Calloways

    Those Calloways

  • Crossfire

    Crossfire

  • Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes

    Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes

  • Mafia on the Bounty

    Mafia on the Bounty

  • The Jayhawkers!

    The Jayhawkers!

  • Johnny Firecloud

    Johnny Firecloud

  • The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle

    The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle