Actor
Swarthy, pock-marked, cadaverous-looking character actor, born in Lebanon to Russian immigrants. In Hollywood from 1915 after a stint in Canada, he acquired his niche playing sinister Indians and cold-blooded killers in westerns and serials. During the silent period, he worked variously at Universal, Paramount, Vitagraph and First National. From the 1930s, he was often seen in films for Columbia, Universal, Fox, Tiffany-Stahl and RKO.
Shifty-eyed, high-cheekboned character player who, stealthy and scowling, portrayed exotic villains in US films for five decades from 1916.
He was born in Syria as Mohammad Hassan Lackteen. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1939 and at that time legally changed his name to Frank Samuel Lackteen.
