Tall and gaunt American character actor, prominent in a number of classic American films, hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended Brown University before embarking on a career as an economist for the United States Department of State.
Following a stint with the American Red Cross, serving in Great Britain during World War II, he met director John Huston, who took a liking to him and recommended that he try his hand in Hollywood after the war. However, Dierkes instead chose to work for the U.S. Treasury Department, which, coincidentally, sent him to Hollywood to function as a technical adviser on the film "To the Ends of the Earth" in 1948.
Orson Welles, impressed by his unique presence, cast him as Ross in his adaptation of "Macbeth" in 1948. Dierkes returned to the Treasury Department, but two years later, Huston called on him once more to play The Tall Soldier in "The Red Badge of Courage" in 1951. Dierkes took a leave of absence from his job, a leave which would last for the remainder of his life.
His quiet dignity and distinctive appearance led him to dozens of roles in film and on television. In John Wayne's "The Alamo" in 1960, Dierkes plays a Scot, "Jocko Robertson", named after his own maternal grandfather. He passed away in 1975, leaving behind his wife, two sons, and two daughters.
