Frank De Kova

Born: 1910-03-17

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.


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as Abiram
Released: 1956-10-05

Escaping death, a Hebrew infant is raised in a royal household to become a prince. Upon...

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The Greatest Story Ever Told

as The tormentor
Released: 1965-04-09

From his birth in Bethlehem to his death and eventual resurrection, the life of Jesus Christ is...

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The Mechanic

as The Man
Released: 1972-10-06

Arthur Bishop is a veteran hit man who, owing to his penchant for making his targets' deaths...

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The Man from Laramie

as Padre
Released: 1955-08-19

Will Lockhart arrives in Coronado, an isolated town in New Mexico, in search of someone who...

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The Big Sky

as Moleface (uncredited)
Released: 1952-08-19

Two tough Kentucky mountaineers join a trading expedition from St. Louis up the Missouri River...

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Kiss of Death

as Con Library (uncredited)
Released: 1947-08-27

An ex-con trying to go straight must face a crazed criminal out for revenge.

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Atlantis: The Lost Continent

as Sonoy the Astrologer
Released: 1961-05-03

A Greek Fisherman brings an Atlantean Princess back to her homeland which is the mythical city...

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Drum Beat

as Modoc Jim
Released: 1954-11-10

President Grant orders Indian fighter MacKay to negotiate with the Modocs of northern California...

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Day of the Outlaw

as Denver, Bruhn's Gang
Released: 1959-07-01

Blaise Starrett is a rancher at odds with homesteaders when outlaws hold up the small town. The...

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Cowboy

as Alcaide
Released: 1958-01-23

Chicago hotel clerk Frank Harris dreams of life as a cowboy, and he gets his chance when, jilted...

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Coonskin

as Managan (voice) / Ruby (voice)
Released: 1975-08-20

Brother Rabbit, Brother Bear, and Preacher Fox rise to the top of the crime ranks in Harlem by...

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The Brothers Karamazov

as Capt. Vrublevski
Released: 1958-02-20

Ryevsk, Russia, 1870. Tensions abound in the Karamazov family. Fyodor is a wealthy libertine who...

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They Rode West

as Isatai
Released: 1954-12-04

A young cavalry doctor treats very sick Indians against orders, whom are forced to stay on...

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The Jayhawkers!

as Evans
Released: 1959-10-15

Before the U.S. Civil War rebel leader Luke Darcy sees himself as leader of a new independent...

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Heavy Traffic

as Angelo "Angie" Corleone (voice)
Released: 1973-08-08

An "underground" cartoonist contends with life in the inner city, where various unsavory...

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Follow That Dream

as Jack (as Frank de Kova)
Released: 1962-04-11

When the Kwimper family car runs out of fuel on a new Florida highway and an officious state...

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American Pop

as Crisco (voice)
Released: 1981-02-13

The history of American popular music runs parallel with the history of a Russian Jewish...

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Apache Territory

as Lugo (as Frank deKova)
Released: 1958-09-01

Logan Cates sets out to rescue a white woman captured by Apache Indians and prevent a war. On...

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All the Brothers Were Valiant

as Stevenson
Released: 1953-11-13

In the South Pacific islands, two brothers, one good and one bad, fight over the same girl and...

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The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

as Syndicate Chairman
Released: 1960-02-03

Jack Diamond and his sickly brother arrive in prohibition New York as jewelry thieves. After a...

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Strange Lady in Town

as Anse Hatlo
Released: 1955-04-12

Julia Garth, a female doctor, plans to introduce modern techniques of medicine to old Santa Fe...

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Hey Good Lookin'

as Old Vinnie (voice)
Released: 1982-10-01

An outrageous, affectionate look at coming of age in the Eisenhower era in Brooklyn.

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King of the Khyber Rifles

as Ali Nur
Released: 1953-12-23

Freshly arrived Sandhurst-trained Captain Alan King, better versed in Pashtun then any of the...

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Teenage Cave Man

as The Black-Bearded One
Released: 1958-07-01

Roger Corman's post-holocaust quickie about an adolescent tribesman who dares to explore the...

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Machine-Gun Kelly

as Harry
Released: 1958-05-01

George Kelly is angry at the world and scared to death of dying. A career bank robber, Kelly...

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Passion

as Martinez (as Frank de Kova)
Released: 1954-10-06

In old Spanish California, dashing cattleman Juan Obregon returns to the rancho of his friend...

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Reprisal!

as Charlie Washackle
Released: 1956-11-02

New ranch owner Frank Madden, half Indian but posing as white, arrives just as an all white jury...

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The Lone Ranger

as Chief Red Hawk
Released: 1956-02-25

The territorial governor asks the Lone Ranger to investigate mysterious raids on settlers by...

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The Don Is Dead

as Giunta
Released: 1973-11-14

After his mistress is murdered, a Mafia leader goes after the killer with a bloody vengeance....

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Arrowhead

as Chief Chattez
Released: 1953-08-03

Director Charles Marquis Warren's 1953 western stars Charlton Heston and Jack Palance. Chief of...

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Those Calloways

as Nigosh
Released: 1965-01-28

Story of Cam Calloway and his family, who live in a densely wooded area in New England. Cam...

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Run of the Arrow

as Red Cloud (as Frank De Kova)
Released: 1957-09-05

When the South loses the war, Confederate veteran O'Meara goes West, joins the Sioux, takes a...

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Split Second

as Dummy
Released: 1953-05-02

Escaped convicts hold hostages in a ghost town targeted for a nuclear bomb test.

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Santiago

as Jingo
Released: 1956-07-13

Two American gun runners at odds with each other and looking to sell guns to the rebels during...

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Ride Out for Revenge

as Chief Yellow Wolf
Released: 1957-10-31

When an Indian chief is murdered in a hateful town, a sympathizing ex marshal tries to stop the...

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Shack Out on 101

as Prof. Claude Dillon
Released: 1955-12-04

A greasy spoon diner provides a base for a spy smuggling nuclear secrets.

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The Slams

as Capiello
Released: 1973-09-26

Rival prison factions surround a Los Angeles convict who has $1.5 million stashed on the outside.

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Pillars of the Sky

as Zachariah
Released: 1956-09-14

First Sergeant Emmett Bell faces off with Apache chieftain Kamiakin in this nuanced portrayal of...

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Holiday for Sinners

as The Wiry Man
Released: 1952-07-25

Three old friends reunite during Mardi Gras and try to forget their problems.

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Crossfire

as Albert Ambrose
Released: 1975-03-24

Vince Rossi is a cop who has been asked by the department to go undercover. Part of the process...

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Raiders of the Seven Seas

as Captain Romero
Released: 1953-05-27

After staging a mutiny and commandeering his own ship, famed pirate Barbarossa (John Payne)...

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The Desert Song

as Mindar
Released: 1953-05-30

Shiek Yousseff, poses as a friend of the French while secretly plotting to overthrow them....

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The White Squaw

as Yellow Elk
Released: 1956-11-01

A Swedish settler (David Brian) starts a war when he tries to drive Dakotas off their Wyoming...

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The Wild Country

as Two Dog
Released: 1970-12-16

Uprooted from their comfortable home in Pennsylvania, James and Kate Tanner, along with their...

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Fighter Attack

as Benedetto
Released: 1953-11-29

World War II film set in German occupied Italy. A US fighter pilot is shot down in enemy...

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Appointment with a Shadow

as Dutch Hayden
Released: 1957-09-01

George Nader plays a reporter whose career is ruined by liquor. A comeback opportunity presents...

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The Sword of Ali Baba

as Old Baba
Released: 1965-04-01

Supposedly up to 70 percent of this feature was taken from the 1944 Ali Baba and the Forty...

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Mafia on the Bounty

as Rupolo
Released: 1980-03-07

A mob boss' plan to rub out his competition runs into trouble when his boat is attacked by a...

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Cat in the Cage

as Rachid Khan
Released: 1978-08-02

A young man returns to his rich family's estate after a stay in a mental hospital. He finds that...

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Not One Shall Die

as Egyptian Official
Released: 1957-01-01

A short film by the United Jewish Appeal, directed by David Lowell Rich and starring Guy...

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Hold Back Tomorrow

as Priest
Released: 1955-11-01

Suicidal hooker Cleo Moore agrees to spend the night with condemned prisoner John Agar in this...

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The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1967-06-21

Eagles are the channel to the spirit world for a Hopi Indian boy who defies tribal law and frees...

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Jive Turkey

as Big Tony (as Frank deKova)
Released: 1974-11-01

In 1950s Harlem a vicious Italian gangster (Frank deKova) tries to muscle in on a black...

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Johnny Firecloud

as White Eagle
Released: 1975-08-01

An American Indian war veteran avenges the hanging of his grandfather by local thugs.

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The Rockford Files

as Nova (as Frank De Kova)
First aired: 1974-09-13

Cranky but likable L.A. PI Jim Rockford pulls no punches (but takes plenty of them). An ex-con...

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The Incredible Hulk

as uncredited
First aired: 1977-11-04

During an experiment gone bad, radiation turns a scientist into a raging green behemoth whenever...

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Hawaii Five-O

as Phil Kalama
First aired: 1968-09-20

Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and...

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The High Chaparral

as Aguirre
First aired: 1967-09-10

The High Chaparral is an American Western-themed television series starring Leif Erickson and...

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The Untouchables

as Louie Campagna
First aired: 1959-10-15

Special Agent Eliot Ness and his elite team of incorruptible agents battle organized crime in...

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The Untouchables

as Anthony 'Tough Tony' Lamberto
First aired: 1959-10-15

Special Agent Eliot Ness and his elite team of incorruptible agents battle organized crime in...

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The Untouchables

as Louis Campagne
First aired: 1959-10-15

Special Agent Eliot Ness and his elite team of incorruptible agents battle organized crime in...

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The Untouchables

as Louis 'Little New York' Campagna
First aired: 1959-10-15

Special Agent Eliot Ness and his elite team of incorruptible agents battle organized crime in...

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The Untouchables

as Jimmy Napoli
First aired: 1959-10-15

Special Agent Eliot Ness and his elite team of incorruptible agents battle organized crime in...

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Little House on the Prairie

as uncredited
First aired: 1974-09-11

Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael...

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The F.B.I.

as Faber
First aired: 1965-09-19

The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was...

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The F.B.I.

as Dracus
First aired: 1965-09-19

The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was...

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Kraft Suspense Theatre

as Edward
First aired: 1963-10-10

Kraft Suspense Theatre is an American anthology series that was telecast from 1963 to 1965 on...

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77 Sunset Strip

as uncredited
First aired: 1958-10-10

Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer are the wisecracking, womanizing private-detective heroes of this...

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77 Sunset Strip

as Jerry Gordon
First aired: 1958-10-10

Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer are the wisecracking, womanizing private-detective heroes of this...

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77 Sunset Strip

as Jack Bent
First aired: 1958-10-10

Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer are the wisecracking, womanizing private-detective heroes of this...

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The Roaring 20's

as uncredited
First aired: 1960-10-15

The adventures of a newspaper reporter covering the world of cops and gangsters in 1920s Chicago.

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The Tall Man

as uncredited
First aired: 1960-09-10

The Tall Man is a half-hour American western television series about Sheriff Pat Garrett and the...

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Alfred Hitchcock Presents

as Pedro
First aired: 1955-10-02

A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.

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Alfred Hitchcock Presents

as Senor Vargas
First aired: 1955-10-02

A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.

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The Third Man

as Arlatti
First aired: 1959-10-02

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Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans

as Ottawa Chief
First aired: 1957-04-03

Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans was set in New York's Hudson Valley during the French and...

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The Gallant Men

as uncredited
First aired: 1962-10-05

The Gallant Men is a 1962–1963 ABC television series which depicted an infantry company of...

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The Walter Winchell File

as Stefan
First aired: 1957-10-02

The Walter Winchell File is the title of a television crime drama series that initially aired...

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The Lawless Years

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-04-16

The Lawless Years is an American crime drama series that aired on NBC from April 16 1959, to...

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Daniel Boone

as Talakum
First aired: 1964-09-24

Daniel Boone is an American action-adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel...

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Daniel Boone

as Saugus
First aired: 1964-09-24

Daniel Boone is an American action-adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel...

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The Rifleman

as uncredited
First aired: 1958-09-30

The Rifleman is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas...

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The Rifleman

as Chief Hostay
First aired: 1958-09-30

The Rifleman is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas...

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Maverick

as uncredited
First aired: 1957-09-22

Maverick is an American Western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins....

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Cheyenne

as uncredited
First aired: 1955-09-20

Cheyenne is an American western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on...

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Cheyenne

as Spotted Bull
First aired: 1955-09-20

Cheyenne is an American western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on...

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Cheyenne

as Sitting Bull
First aired: 1955-09-20

Cheyenne is an American western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on...

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Cannon

as uncredited
First aired: 1971-09-14

Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26,...

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Route 66

as uncredited
First aired: 1960-10-07

Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America in a Chevrolet...

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Police Woman

as uncredited
First aired: 1974-09-13

Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los...

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Wagon Train

as Obuki
First aired: 1957-09-18

The series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later...

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Wagon Train

as Isaiah Quickfox
First aired: 1957-09-18

The series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later...

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Wagon Train

as Ocheo
First aired: 1957-09-18

The series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later...

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Ben Casey

as uncredited
First aired: 1961-10-02

Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was...

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Peter Gunn

as uncredited
First aired: 1958-09-22

Peter Gunn is an American private eye television series. Filmed in a film noir atmosphere and...

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Hawaiian Eye

as Pete Dailey
First aired: 1959-10-07

Private Eyes Tom Lopaka and Tracy Steele are based out of Hawaiian Village Resort where they...

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Thriller

as Lieutenant Vincoli
First aired: 1960-09-13

Thriller is an American anthology television series that aired during the 1960–61 and 1961–62...

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Baretta

as uncredited
First aired: 1975-01-17

Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show...

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Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers

as uncredited
First aired: 1956-10-21

Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers is a television series broadcast in the United States by NBC...

TV Show page

Laramie

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-09-15

Laramie is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1959 to 1963. A Revue...

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The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin

as uncredited
First aired: 1954-10-15

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin is an American children's television program. Beginning in October...

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Run, Joe, Run

as uncredited
First aired: 1974-09-07

Run, Joe, Run was a Saturday morning television program that aired on NBC from 1974 to 1976. It...

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The Detectives

as Nordoff
First aired: 1959-10-16

The Detectives is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons,...

TV Show page

Surfside 6

as Stinger
First aired: 1960-10-06

Surfside 6 was an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered on a...

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The Swiss Family Robinson

as uncredited
First aired: 1975-09-14

The Swiss Family Robinson is an American action and adventure series

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The Rebel

as Richard Aloysius Sturgis
First aired: 1959-10-04

The Rebel is a 76-episode American western television series starring Nick Adams that debuted on...

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Rawhide

as Chief Tawyawp
First aired: 1959-01-09

The tale of trail boss Gil Favor and his trusty foreman Rowdy Yates as they drives cattle across...

TV Show page

F Troop

as Chief Wild Eagle
First aired: 1965-09-14

F Troop is a satirical American television sitcom that originally aired for two seasons on...

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F Troop

as Wild Eagle
First aired: 1965-09-14

F Troop is a satirical American television sitcom that originally aired for two seasons on...

TV Show page

The Deputy

as Cowan
First aired: 1959-09-12

The Deputy is an American western series that aired on NBC from September 1959, to July 1961....

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Black Saddle

as Calderon
First aired: 1959-01-10

Black Saddle is an American Western television series starring Peter Breck that aired 44...

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Martin Kane, Private Eye

as Thomas Randall
First aired: 1949-09-01

Martin Kane, Private Eye was an early radio series and television crime series sponsored by...

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Outlaws

as uncredited
First aired: 1960-09-26

Outlaws is an NBC Western television series, starring Barton MacLane as U.S. marshal Frank...

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The Alaskans

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-10-04

The Alaskans is a 1959-1960 ABC/Warner Brothers western television series set during the late...

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Gunsmoke

as Tobeel
First aired: 1955-09-10

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman...

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Gunsmoke

as Mulligan Rives
First aired: 1955-09-10

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman...

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Gunsmoke

as Leader
First aired: 1955-09-10

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman...

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Police Story

as uncredited
First aired: 1973-03-20

Police Story is an anthology television crime drama. The show was the brainchild of author and...

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The Dakotas

as uncredited
First aired: 1963-01-07

The Dakotas is an ABC/Warner Brothers western television series starring Larry Ward and...

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The Islanders

as Carlos Roca
First aired: 1960-10-02

The Islanders is an American adventure television series which aired on ABC from 1960 to 1961,...

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Johnny Staccato

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-09-10

Johnny Staccato is an American private detective series which ran for 27 episodes on NBC from...

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Toma

as uncredited
First aired: 1973-03-21

Toma is an American crime drama series that ran on ABC in 1973 and 1974.

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