---
name: "John Dierkes"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-dierkes"
roles: []
born: "10 February 1905"
died: "8 January 1975"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 68
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-20T03:35:50.074007+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# John Dierkes

Actor. Born 10 February 1905 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Died 8 January 1975.

## Details

- **Born:** 10 February 1905, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- **Died:** 8 January 1975
- **Active:** 1953–1960
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 2 acting, 1 other
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 78 (2), 1960s 50 (1)
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 1 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 2, War 2, Western 2, Adventure 1, History 1
- **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $36m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dierkes, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1699819, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0226109/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29645

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Shane*](https://film.one/film/shane.md) (83)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

John Dierkes (10 February 1905 – 8 January 1975) was an American character actor. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended Brown University and worked as an economist for the United States Department of State. During the Second World War he served with the Red Cross in Britain, where he met director John Huston. After the war he joined the United States Treasury Department and was sent to Hollywood as technical adviser on the film *To the Ends of the Earth* (1948).

Dierkes began acting the same year, appearing as Ross in Orson Welles’s *Macbeth* (1948). His tall frame (6 ft 6 in) led to numerous supporting roles, often as villains or soldiers. He is remembered for playing Morgan Ryker in *Shane* (1953), Dr Chapman in *The Thing from Another World* (1951), and Jocko Robertson in *The Alamo* (1960). He also appeared in *Touch of Evil* (1958), *The Raven* (1963) and *The Omega Man* (1971). Dierkes was married to Cynthia Dierkes and had four children.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

### Performed in (2)

- *The Alamo* (1960), Fi1m 50, as Jocko Robertson — [page](https://film.one/film/the-alamo.md)
- *Shane* (1953), Fi1m 83, as Morgan Ryker — [page](https://film.one/film/shane.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Friendly Persuasion* (1956), Fi1m 72, as Farmer (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/friendly-persuasion.md)

## Complete filmography (61)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *John Wayne's 'The Alamo'* (1992), as Jocko Robertson
- *Creepy Classics* (1987), as Roderick Craven - (archive footage)
- *Rage* (1972), as Bill Parker
- *The Omega Man* (1971), as Family Member
- *Johnny Cool* (1963), as Cripple
- *The Haunted Palace* (1963), as Benjamin West / Jacob West
- *X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes* (1963), as Preacher (uncredited)
- *The Raven* (1963), as Roderick Craven
- *Convicts 4* (1962), as Cell Block Guard (uncredited)
- *The Premature Burial* (1962), as Sweeny
- *The Comancheros* (1961), as Ranger Bill Larsen (uncredited)
- *One-Eyed Jacks* (1961), as Chet
- *The Alamo* (1960), as Jocko Robertson — Fi1m 50, [page](https://film.one/film/the-alamo.md)
- *The Aquanauts* (1960), series, as Inspector Crail
- *The Slowest Gun in the West* (1960), as 'Wild Bill' Monks
- *The Oregon Trail* (1959), as Gabe Hastings
- *The Hanging Tree* (1959), as Society Red
- *Rawhide* (1959), series, as Private, Martinson
- *The Buccaneer* (1958), as Deacon
- *The Rifleman* (1958), series, as Nel Svenson
- *Peter Gunn* (1958), series, Actor
- *Wanted: Dead or Alive* (1958), series, as Charlie
- *The Left Handed Gun* (1958), as Alexander McSween
- *Blood Arrow* (1958), as Ez
- *Touch of Evil* (1958), as Policeman (uncredited)
- *Death in Small Doses* (1957), Actor
- *Valerie* (1957), as Bartender
- *The Buckskin Lady* (1957), as Swanson
- *Daughter of Dr. Jekyll* (1957), as Jacob
- *The Guns of Fort Petticoat* (1957), as Texas Storekeeper (uncredited)
- *Tales of Wells Fargo* (1957), series, as Scanlon
- *Duel at Apache Wells* (1957), as Bill Sowers
- *The Halliday Brand* (1957), as Reverend
- *Down Liberty Road* (1957), as Soldier (Uncredited)
- *Friendly Persuasion* (1956), as Farmer (uncredited) — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/friendly-persuasion.md)
- *State Trooper* (1956), series, Actor
- *The Fastest Gun Alive* (1956), as Cross Creek Townsman (uncredited)
- *Telephone Time* (1956), series, Actor
- *Jubal* (1956), as Carson - Horgan Rider
- *The Vanishing American* (1955), as Freil
- *Gunsmoke* (1955), series, as Rydell, Ace, Indian, Dahoma
- *Betrayed Women* (1955), as Cletus Ballard
- *Not as a Stranger* (1955), as Bursar
- *Hell's Outpost* (1954), as Swede - the Cook (uncredited)
- *The Raid* (1954), as Cpl. Fred Deane
- *Adventures Of The Falcon* (1954), series, Actor
- *The Desperado* (1954), as Police Sergeant
- *The Naked Jungle* (1954), as Gruber
- *Gun Fury* (1953), Actor
- *The Moonlighter* (1953), as Sheriff Daws
- *Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* (1953), as Batley
- *The Vanquished* (1953), as General Morris
- *Shane* (1953), as Morgan Ryker — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/shane.md)
- *Les Miserables* (1952), as Bosun (uncredited)
- *Silver City* (1951), as Arnie
- *Schlitz Playhouse of Stars* (1951), series, as Joe Bronson, Dr. Belvedere
- *The Red Badge of Courage* (1951), as Jim Conklin - the Tall Soldier
- *The Thing from Another World* (1951), as Dr. Chapman
- *Three Husbands* (1950), as Night Court Judge (uncredited)
- *Lux Video Theatre* (1950), series, as Jeb Bricker
- *Macbeth* (1948), as Ross

## Gallery

- ![Cropped and edited lobby card featuring John Dierkes and Molly McCard in The Daughter of Dr Jekyll (Allied Artists, 1957). Image is assumed to be in the public ](https://film.one/media/person/1237781/gallery-a4d33c7457f7.jpg) Cropped and edited lobby card featuring John Dierkes and Molly McCard in The Daughter of Dr Jekyll (Allied Artists, 1957). Image is assumed to be in the public  — Allied Artists, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/John_Dierkes_1957.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![John Dierkes](https://film.one/media/person/1237781/gallery-28d586a612d1.png) John Dierkes — Allied Artists, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/DaughterJekyll004.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![John Dierkes](https://film.one/media/person/1237781/gallery-e25ff73cfcd1.jpg) John Dierkes — Image via TMDB

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-dierkes