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Albert Dekker

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Albert Dekker
Dekker in In Old Oklahoma (1943)
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 57th district
In office
January 8, 1945 – January 6, 1947
Preceded byFranklin J. Potter
Succeeded byCharles J. Conrad
Personal details
Born
Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker

(1905-12-20)December 20, 1905
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
DiedMay 5, 1968(1968-05-05) (aged 62)
Hollywood, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Esthr Guerini
​
​
(m. 1929; div. 1964)​
Children3
OccupationActor, politician

Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968) was an American actor and politician known for his roles in Dr. Cyclops, The Killers (1946), Kiss Me Deadly, and The Wild Bunch.

Early life and career

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Dekker was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the only child of Thomas and Grace Ecke Van Dekker. He attended Richmond Hill High School, where he appeared in stage productions. He then attended Bowdoin College, where he majored in pre-med with plans to become a doctor. On the advice of a friend, he decided to pursue acting as a career. He made his professional acting debut with a Cincinnati stock company in 1927. Within a few months, Dekker was featured in the Broadway production of Eugene O'Neill's play Marco Millions.[1]

Dekker as Dr. Thorkel in the 1940 film Dr. Cyclops

After a decade of theatrical appearances, Dekker transferred to Hollywood in 1937 and made his first film, 1937's The Great Garrick.[2] He spent most of the rest of his acting career in the cinema but returned to the stage from time to time.

He replaced Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman in the original production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, and during a five-year stint back on Broadway in the early 1960s, he played the Duke of Norfolk in Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons.

Dekker appeared in some 70 films from the 1930s to the 1960s, but his four famous screen roles were as a mad scientist in the 1940 horror film Dr. Cyclops, as a criminal mastermind in 1946's The Killers, as a dangerous dealer in atomic fuel in the 1955 Kiss Me Deadly, and as an unscrupulous railroad detective in Sam Peckinpah's Western The Wild Bunch, released in 1969. In 1959, he played a Texas Ranger in The Wonderful Country. He was rarely cast in romantic roles, but in the film Seven Sinners, featuring a romance between Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne, Dietrich sails off with Dekker's character at the end of the film. Dekker was an often memorable guest star – usually a villain – in numerous TV series from the 1950s through 1968, such as Rawhide, The Man From UNCLE, Mission: Impossible, Climax!, Bonanza, and I Spy. Dekker's role as Pat Harrigan in The Wild Bunch was his last screen appearance; he died over a year before it was released.

Personal life

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On April 4, 1929, Dekker married former actress Esther Guerini. The couple had two sons, and named them John and Benjamin, and their daughter who they named Jan, but they divorced in 1964.[3][4]

In April 1957, Dekker's 16-year-old son, John, fatally shot himself with a .22 rifle. This happened at the family's home in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. The entire year he had been working on a silencer for the rifle. That death was ruled accidental.[4]

In his book-length account of the production of The Wild Bunch, writer W.K. Stratton describes Dekker as "completely nuts," and possibly the most troubled person on a set filled with eccentrics.[5] According to actor R.G. Armstrong, Dekker showed up to the remote Mexican shooting location of that film in 1968 with a 13-year-old girl he described as his wife, telling people (falsely) that he was a medical doctor, and that after filming he would retire from acting to help impoverished Africans.[6]

Politics

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Dekker's off-screen interest in politics led to his winning a seat in the California State Assembly for the 57th Assembly District in 1944. Dekker served as a Democratic member of the Assembly until 1946.[7]

During the McCarthy era, he was an outspoken critic of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy's tactics. As a result, Dekker was blacklisted in Hollywood and spent most of the blacklist period working on Broadway rather than in Hollywood (but he did work throughout the 1950s, including a part in Kiss Me Deadly).[8]

Death

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On May 5, 1968, Dekker was found dead in his Hollywood home by his fiancée, fashion model and future Love Boat creator Jeraldine Saunders. He had hanged himself in his bathroom while dressed in women's lingerie. His body was covered in explicit words and drawings in red lipstick.[9]

Money and camera equipment were missing, but there was no sign of forced entry. Police, calling it "quite an unusual case",[10] originally said it was suicide but the deputy coroner found no evidence of foul play nor any indication that he planned to take his life and ruled his death accidental, the result of autoerotic asphyxiation.[8][11][12] Dekker was cremated, and his remains interred at the Garden State Crematory in North Bergen, New Jersey.[13]

Dekker has a star in the motion picture category on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6620 Hollywood Boulevard.[14]

Filmography

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Film
Year Title Role Notes
1937 The Great Garrick M. LeBrun credited as Albert Van Dekker
She Married an Artist Whitney Holton
1938 Extortion Jeffrey Thompson credited as Albert Van Dekker
The Lone Wolf in Paris Marquis Louis de Meyerson
Marie Antoinette Comte de Provence credited as Albert Van Dekker
The Last Warning Higgs the Butler
1939 Paris Honeymoon Amorous Drunk uncredited
Hotel Imperial Sergeant uncredited
Never Say Die Kidley's Second uncredited
The Man in the Iron Mask Louis XIII
Beau Geste Legionnaire Schwartz
The Great Commandment Longinus
1940 Strange Cargo Moll with Clark Gable and Joan Crawford
Dr. Cyclops Dr. Thorkel
Rangers of Fortune George Bird
Seven Sinners Dr. Martin with John Wayne; alternative title: Cafe of the Seven Sinners
1941 Blonde Inspiration Phil Hendricks
You're the One Luke Laramie
Reaching for the Sun Herman
Honky Tonk Brazos Hearn with Clark Gable and Lana Turner
Buy Me That Town Louie Lanzer
Among the Living John Raden / Paul Raden
1942 The Lady Has Plans Baron Von Kemp
Star Spangled Rhythm Himself uncredited
Yokel Boy 'Buggsy' Malone
In Old California Britt Dawson with John Wayne
Night in New Orleans Police Lieutenant William Richards
Wake Island Shad McClosky
The Forest Rangers Twig Dawson
Once Upon a Honeymoon Gaston Le Blanc
1943 Buckskin Frontier Gideon Skene
The Kansan Steve Barat
In Old Oklahoma Jim "Hunk" Gardner with John Wayne; alternative title: War of the Wildcats
The Woman of the Town Bat Masterson with Claire Trevor as Dora Hand
1944 The Hitler Gang Narrator uncredited
Experiment Perilous 'Clag' Claghorne
1945 Salome Where She Danced Von Bohlen
Incendiary Blonde Joe Cadden
Hold That Blonde Police Inspector Callahan
1946 The French Key Johnny Fletcher
Suspense Frank Leonard
The Killers Big Jim Colfax alternative title: A Man Alone
Two Years Before the Mast Brown
1947 California Mr. Pike
Slave Girl Pasha
Wyoming Duke Lassiter
The Pretender Kenneth Holden
Cass Timberlane Boone Havock
The Fabulous Texan Gibson Hart
Gentleman's Agreement John Minify with Gregory Peck and Celeste Holm
1948 Fury at Furnace Creek Edward Leverett
Lulu Belle Mark Brady
1949 Tarzan's Magic Fountain Mr. Trask
Bride of Vengeance Vanetti
Search for Danger Kirk
1950 The Kid from Texas Alexander Kain
Destination Murder Armitage
The Furies Mr. Reynolds
1951 As Young as You Feel Louis McKinley
1952 Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie Lloyd Slocum
1954 The Silver Chalice Kester
1955 East of Eden Will Hamilton with James Dean
Kiss Me Deadly Dr. G.E. Soberin
Illegal Frank Garland
1957 She Devil Dr. Richard Bach
1958 Machete Don Luis Montoya
1959 The Sound and the Fury Earl Snopes
These Thousand Hills Marshal Conrad
Middle of the Night Walter Lockman with Fredric March and Kim Novak
The Wonderful Country Texas Ranger Capt. Rucker
Suddenly, Last Summer Dr. Lawrence J. Hockstader
1965 Once Upon a Tractor Colonel short
1966 Gammera, the Invincible Secretary of Defense
1967 Come Spy with Me Walter Ludeker
1969 The Wild Bunch Pat Harrigan
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1951 Pulitzer Prize Playhouse George Washington episode: "Valley Forge"
1952 Studio One Billy Bones episode: "Treasure Island"
1955 Goodyear Television Playhouse episode: "The Chivington Raid"
1956 Climax! Brewster episode: "Fear Is the Hunter"
1959 Decoy Otto Flagler episode: "High Swing"
1960 The Witness Jimmy Hines episode: "Jimmy Hines"
1961 Route 66 Frank Ivy episode: "The Newborn"
1964 Kraft Suspense Theatre Karl Hesse episode: "The World I Want"
1965 Seaway Captain Marland episode: "The 34th Man"
1965 Rawhide Josh Breeden & Jonas Bolt episodes: Josh & Crossing at White Feather
1965 The Trials of O'Brien George Brewer episode: "Bargain Day on the Street of Regret"
1966 Mission: Impossible Colonel Shtemenko episode: "The Short Tail Spy"
1966 Death of a Salesman Uncle Ben CBS-TV production
1967 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Harry Beldon episode: "The Summit-Five Affair"
1968 Run for Your Life Sir Harry Hiller episode: "A Dangerous Proposal"
1968 Bonanza Barney Sturgess episode: "The Bottle Fighter"
1968 I Spy Indris episode: "Shana"

References

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  1. ^ Burroughs Hannsberry, Karen (2003). Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. McFarland & Company. p. 192. ISBN 0-786-41484-7.
  2. ^ Monush, p. 187.
  3. ^ "Actor Divorced". Reading Eagle. February 19, 1964. p. 42. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Actor's Son Shot Dead; John Dekker, 16, Found Slain in Westchester Home". The New York Times. April 19, 1957. p. 15.
  5. ^ https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-wild-bunch-9781632862129/ p.196
  6. ^ "Passion & Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah (2005) - IMDb". IMDb.
  7. ^ "Autopsy Performed on Actor Albert Dekker". The Los Angeles Times. May 7, 1968. p. 19.
  8. ^ a b Hare, William (2008). L.A. Noir: Nine Dark Visions of the City of Angels. McFarland. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-786-43740-5.
  9. ^ Rutledge, Leigh W. (1989). The Gay Fireside Companion. Alyson Publications, Inc. p. 110. ISBN 9781555831646.
  10. ^ Lamparski, p. 43.
  11. ^ Parish, James Robert (2002). The Hollywood Book of Death: The Bizarre, Often Sordid, Passings of More Than 125 American Movie and TV Idols. Contemporary Books. p. 260. ISBN 0-8092-2227-2.
  12. ^ "Rule Albert Dekker's Death As Accidental". Variety. May 15, 1968. p. 2.
  13. ^ "Dekker's Death Accidental, Tentative Ruling Declares". The New York Times. May 9, 1968. p. 20.
  14. ^ "Hollywood Star Walk: Albert Dekker". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 13, 2013.

Sources

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  • Lamparski, R. (1981) Lamparsaki's Hidden Hollywood, Simon & Schuster: New York. ISBN 0671418858.
  • Monush, B. (2003) Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the Silent Era to 1965, Applause Theatre & Cinema Books: New York. ISBN 1-55783-551-9.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Albert Dekker.
California Assembly
Preceded by California State Assemblyman, 57th District
January 8, 1945 – January 6, 1947 		Succeeded by
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