Frank DeKova
Genere: M
Compleanno: 1910-03-17
Morto: 1981-10-15
Biografia
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.
Attore:
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1. Il bacio della morte (1947), film...Con Library
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2. The Mob (1951), film...Culio (uncredited)
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3. Il grande cielo (1952), film...Moleface
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4. L'ultima freccia (1952), film...Custin
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5. Viva Zapata! (1952), film...Colonel Guajardo
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6. La carica dei Kyber (1953), film...Ali Nur
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...Dummy
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8. La freccia insanguinata (1953), film...Chief Chattez
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9. All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953), film...Stevenson (as Frank deKova)
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10. La valle dei re (1954), film...Akmed Salah
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11. Cavalcata ad ovest (1954), film...Isatai
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12. Il cavaliere implacabile (1954), film...Martinez
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13. L'uomo di Laramie (1955), film...Padre
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14. Cheyenne (1955), serie...Benito Juarez
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15. I dieci comandamenti (1956), film...Abiram
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16. I pilastri del cielo (1956), film...Zachariah
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17. Rappresaglia (1956), film...Charlie Washackle
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18. Il cavaliere senza volto (1956), film...Chief Red Hawk
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19. La Tortura Della Freccia (1957), film...Red Cloud
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20. La cavalcata della vendetta (1957), film...Chief Yellow Wolf
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21. Carovane verso il west (1957), serie...Running Bear
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22. Karamazov (1958), film...Capt. Vrublevski
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23. Cowboy (1958), film...Alcaide
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24. Apache Territory (1958), film...Lugo
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25. La legge del mitra (1958), film...Harry
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26. La notte senza legge (1959), film...Denver
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27. I ribelli del Kansas (1959), film...Evans
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28. Jack Diamond gangster (1960), film...Syndicate Chairman
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29. Atlantide continente perduto (1961), film...Sonoy the Astrologer
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30. Lo sceriffo scalzo (1962), film...Jack
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31. I cacciatori del lago d'argento (1965), film...Nigosh
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32. Wyoming, terra selvaggia (1970), film...Two Dog
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33. Professione: assassino (1972), film...The Man
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34. Il boss è morto (1973), film...Giunta
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35. Frasier The Loveable Lion (1973), film...The Man (as Frank de Kova)
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36. Heavy Traffic (1973), film...Angelo "Angie" Corleone (voice)
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37. American Pop (1981), film...Crisco (voice)
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38. Hey Good Lookin' (1982), film...Old Vinnie (voice)