John Dierkes

DOB: 1905-02-10

DOD: 1975-01-08

Dierkes was born on February 10, 1905 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended Brown University and subsequently went to work as an economist for the United States Department of State. In 1941 he joined the Red Cross and served in the Britain duringWorld War II. There he met director John Huston who recommended that he try Hollywood after the war. Instead, Dierkes went to work for the U.S. Treasury Department which coincidentally sent him to Hollywood to function as technical advisor for the film To the Ends of the Earth (1948). Because of his appearance and very tall frame (6 feet, 6 inches), Dierkes enjoyed a long career as a character actor, often portraying villains or soldiers. In the 1953 film Shane, Dierkes portrays villain Morgan Ryker, who is the last man shot by the title character, Shane, in the final bar room shootout. One of his more memorable scenes is in the 1960 film, The Alamo. Dierkes portrays a Tennessean named Jocko, who is torn between leaving before the attack to care for his blind wife, or staying to support the Texans' cause. Understanding that if Jocko stays to fight she will likely be widowed, Jocko's wife coaxes him to stay and defend the fort, despite her disability. Dierkes died in 1975 of emphesyma and was survived by his wife Cynthia, two sons, and two daughters.

Starred In

1953
Movie

Shane

1963
Movie

The Haunted Palace

1958
Movie

The Buccaneer

1960
Movie

The Alamo

1948
Movie

Macbeth

1963
Movie

The Raven

1959
Movie

The Hanging Tree

1957
Movie

Valerie

1963
Movie

Johnny Cool

1987
Movie

Creepy Classics

1962
Movie

Convicts 4

1957
Movie

The Buckskin Lady

1952
Movie

Les Miserables

1953
Movie

The Moonlighter

1950
Movie

Three Husbands

1954
Movie

Hell's Outpost

1954
Movie

The Naked Jungle

1954
Movie

The Raid

1971
Movie

The Omega Man

1972
Movie

Rage

1958
Movie

Touch of Evil

1955
Movie

Betrayed Women

1954
Movie

The Desperado

1959
Movie

The Oregon Trail

1961
Movie

The Comancheros

1955
Movie

Not as a Stranger

1956
Movie

Jubal

1951
Movie

Silver City

1961
Movie

One-Eyed Jacks

1953
Movie

The Vanquished

1958
Movie

Blood Arrow

1955
Tv

Gunsmoke

1959
Tv

Rawhide

1958
Tv

Peter Gunn

1960
Tv

The Aquanauts

1958
Tv

The Rifleman

1956
Tv

State Trooper

1959
Tv

Rawhide

1955
Tv

Gunsmoke

1955
Tv

Gunsmoke

1955
Tv

Gunsmoke