Frank DeKova, a renowned actor, masterfully transformed his distinctive features, including a sinister scowl, piercing eyes, and an overall menacing demeanor, into a long-standing career of portraying cold-blooded trigger-men, rampaging Indian chiefs, brutal Mexican army officers, and other formidable characters. Despite this imposing on-screen presence, few would anticipate that DeKova, before embarking on his acting journey, was a schoolteacher by profession.
Born in New York in 1910, DeKova abandoned his teaching career to pursue the stage, initially performing in numerous Shakespearean productions. He eventually made his way to Broadway, landing one of his first starring roles in the classic detective play "Detective Story," which garnered him recognition and led to his entry into the Hollywood scene.
DeKova made his film debut in Viva Zapata! (1952),playing the devious Mexican colonel responsible for setting up Zapata's assassination. Over the next several years, he took on a diverse range of roles, including gangsters, killers, gunfighters, and Indians, with a brief hiatus to play a prehistoric patriarch in Roger Corman's campy Teenage Cave Man (1958). He also made significant contributions to television, notably in The Untouchables: Part 1 (1959),where he played a Mafia hit-man assigned to eliminate Elliot Ness.
However, the role that DeKova will be most remembered for is likely his most atypical: the cunning, somewhat untrustworthy, yet hilariously entertaining Hekawi Chief Wild Eagle, the partner to Forrest Tucker's Sgt. O'Rourke in the western comedy series F Troop (1965). DeKova demonstrated an unexpected talent for comedy, effortlessly stealing scenes from seasoned veterans like Tucker and Larry Storch.
Sadly, DeKova passed away in his sleep in 1981. Despite his passing, his remarkable career and versatility continue to be celebrated by audiences and film enthusiasts alike.
