Frank Dekova

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Frank Dekova
As 'Chief Wild Eagle' in "F Troop" (c) 1965-1967 Warner Bros.Pictures Inc.
Born	March 17, 1910(1910-03-17) New York, New York
Died	October 15, 1981 (aged 71) Sepulveda, California

Frank Dekova (March 17, 1910 – October 15, 1981) was an Italian-American character actor.

Biography

Dekova was born in New York City and taught school (primarily languages) at a school in New York before joining a Shakespeare repertory group. He made his Broadway debut in Detective Story, and was discovered by director Elia Kazan.

Moving to Hollywood, he appeared in Viva Zapata! (1952) as the Mexican Colonel, and The Big Sky (1952) with Kirk Douglas. He played Abiram in The Ten Commandments, appeared in Cowboy (1958) with Glenn Ford and Jack Lemmon, and in The Mechanic (1972) with Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent.

He did a lot of television work, including a role as Mafia hitman Jimmy Napoli in The Untouchables. Probably his best-known television role was "Chief Wild Eagle", chief of the Hekawi tribe, on the Western comedy F Troop (1965–1967). His craggy face was well adapted to the ethnic roles he favored.

In 1981, Frank Dekova died of natural causes in his sleep at his home in Sepulveda, California. He is buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery

Films

Television

External links

• Frank Dekova at the Internet Movie Database
• Frank Dekova at findagave