Frank De Kova

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

137

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

  • Police Woman

    Police Woman

  • Police Woman

    Police Woman

  • Love, American Style

    Love, American Style

  • Hawaii Five-O

    Hawaii Five-O

  • The Rockford Files

    The Rockford Files

  • Maverick

    Maverick

  • Peter Gunn

    Peter Gunn

  • The Rifleman

    The Rifleman

  • The Rifleman

    The Rifleman

  • Wagon Train

    Wagon Train

  • Wagon Train

    Wagon Train

  • Wagon Train

    Wagon Train

  • Wagon Train

    Wagon Train

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Rawhide

    Rawhide

  • Daniel Boone

    Daniel Boone

  • Daniel Boone

    Daniel Boone

  • The Incredible Hulk

    The Incredible Hulk

  • Route 66

    Route 66

  • Ben Casey

    Ben Casey

  • The F.B.I.

    The F.B.I.

  • The F.B.I.

    The F.B.I.

  • The High Chaparral

    The High Chaparral

  • The Untouchables

    The Untouchables

  • The Untouchables

    The Untouchables

  • The Untouchables

    The Untouchables

  • The Untouchables

    The Untouchables

  • The Untouchables

    The Untouchables

  • The Untouchables

    The Untouchables

  • Cannon

    Cannon

  • Lawman

    Lawman

  • Baretta

    Baretta

  • Hawaiian Eye

    Hawaiian Eye

  • Thriller

    Thriller

  • 77 Sunset Strip

    77 Sunset Strip

  • 77 Sunset Strip

    77 Sunset Strip

  • 77 Sunset Strip

    77 Sunset Strip

  • Kraft Suspense Theatre

    Kraft Suspense Theatre

  • Gunsmoke

    Gunsmoke

  • Gunsmoke

    Gunsmoke

  • Gunsmoke

    Gunsmoke

  • Laramie

    Laramie

  • Laramie

    Laramie

  • Surfside 6

    Surfside 6

  • The Detectives

    The Detectives

  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents

    Alfred Hitchcock Presents

  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents

    Alfred Hitchcock Presents

  • The Rebel

    The Rebel

  • F Troop

    F Troop

  • F Troop

    F Troop

  • The Deputy

    The Deputy

  • The Tall Man

    The Tall Man

  • Police Story

    Police Story

  • The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin

    The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin

  • Black Saddle

    Black Saddle

  • The Ten Commandments

    The Ten Commandments

  • The Third Man

    The Third Man

  • The Third Man

    The Third Man

  • The Alaskans

    The Alaskans

  • The Roaring 20's

    The Roaring 20's

  • The Dakotas

    The Dakotas

  • The Greatest Show on Earth

    The Greatest Show on Earth

  • The Mechanic

    The Mechanic

  • The Lawless Years

    The Lawless Years

  • Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans

    Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans

  • American Pop

    American Pop

  • Outlaws

    Outlaws

  • Raiders of the Seven Seas

    Raiders of the Seven Seas

  • The Walter Winchell File

    The Walter Winchell File

  • Strange Lady in Town

    Strange Lady in Town

  • Hey Good Lookin'

    Hey Good Lookin'

  • Apache Territory

    Apache Territory

  • The Slams

    The Slams

  • The Gallant Men

    The Gallant Men

  • The Islanders

    The Islanders

  • Johnny Staccato

    Johnny Staccato

  • Teenage Cave Man

    Teenage Cave Man

  • The Don Is Dead

    The Don Is Dead

  • Hold Back Tomorrow

    Hold Back Tomorrow

  • The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

    The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

  • Pillars of the Sky

    Pillars of the Sky

  • Heavy Traffic

    Heavy Traffic

  • Run of the Arrow

    Run of the Arrow

  • All the Brothers Were Valiant

    All the Brothers Were Valiant

  • The Wild Country

    The Wild Country

  • Follow That Dream

    Follow That Dream

  • The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle

    The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle

  • Toma

    Toma

  • Machine-Gun Kelly

    Machine-Gun Kelly

  • The Lone Ranger

    The Lone Ranger

  • The Greatest Story Ever Told

    The Greatest Story Ever Told

  • The Jayhawkers!

    The Jayhawkers!

  • Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers

    Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers

  • Martin Kane, Private Eye

    Martin Kane, Private Eye

  • Run, Joe, Run

    Run, Joe, Run

  • Atlantis: The Lost Continent

    Atlantis: The Lost Continent

  • Cowboy

    Cowboy

  • Crossfire

    Crossfire

  • Coonskin

    Coonskin

  • Ride Out for Revenge

    Ride Out for Revenge

  • The Big Sky

    The Big Sky

  • Drum Beat

    Drum Beat

  • The Swiss Family Robinson

    The Swiss Family Robinson

  • Valley of the Kings

    Valley of the Kings

  • Day of the Outlaw

    Day of the Outlaw

  • The Man from Laramie

    The Man from Laramie

  • The Sword of Ali Baba

    The Sword of Ali Baba

  • Shack Out on 101

    Shack Out on 101

  • Reprisal!

    Reprisal!

  • The White Squaw

    The White Squaw

  • The Troubleshooters

    The Troubleshooters

  • Not One Shall Die

    Not One Shall Die

  • Split Second

    Split Second

  • Kiss of Death

    Kiss of Death

  • King of the Khyber Rifles

    King of the Khyber Rifles

  • They Rode West

    They Rode West

  • Arrowhead

    Arrowhead

  • Holiday for Sinners

    Holiday for Sinners

  • Fighter Attack

    Fighter Attack

  • Johnny Moccasin

    Johnny Moccasin

  • The Desert Song

    The Desert Song

  • Santiago

    Santiago

  • Frasier, the Sensuous Lion

    Frasier, the Sensuous Lion

  • Appointment with a Shadow

    Appointment with a Shadow

  • The Brothers Karamazov

    The Brothers Karamazov

  • Cat in the Cage

    Cat in the Cage

  • Passion

    Passion

  • Mafia on the Bounty

    Mafia on the Bounty

  • Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes

    Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes

  • Johnny Firecloud

    Johnny Firecloud

  • Those Calloways

    Those Calloways