15 Greatest Character Names In American Film History

3. Deke DaSilva ("Nighthawks")

This is the second film on this list directed by a guy called Bruce Malmuth. I'm not quite sure who he is, but his name would work well for a character in a film like this. "Nighthawks" is actually a pretty good action/crime-drama, but one that appears to not have been seen by many. The story follows the European terrorist mastermind known as "Wulfgar" (an early great performance from Rutger Hauer) who has his evil eyes set on New York City. A counter terrorism-task force is quickly assembled and among these men are Bronx street cops Deke DaSilva (Sylvester Stallone) and Matthew Fox (Billy Dee Williams). This film is worthy of watching if only to see Sylvester Stallone in a vaguely interesting early acting performance. He's actually pretty good in this and his physical appearance differs greatly from how we are used to seeing him. He seems to be inspired by Al Pacino's brilliant turn in "Serpico" and sports a truly magnificent beard. More importantly, his character has a great name. Deke is just plain cool in that early 1980's way. DaSilva tells us that he's of Italian-American origin. Plus it sounds cool as well.