Frank Dekova Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Frank Dekova (March 17, 1910 – October 15, 1981) was an Italian-American character actor. Dekova was born in New York City and taught 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... MORE

Frank Dekova (March 17, 1910 – October 15, 1981) was an Italian-American character actor. Dekova was born in New York City and taught 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, and an occasional recurring role in Gunsmoke as "Tobeel", a Kiawah Indian who is a friend of Marshall Matt Dillon. Probably his best-known television role was as "Chief Wild Eagle", chief of the Hekawi tribe, on the Western comedy F Troop (1965–1967). In 1981, Dekova died of heart failure in his sleep at his home in Sepulveda, California. He is buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery LESS