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 Britain during World 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 coincidently sent him to Hollywood to function as technical advisor for the film To the Ends of the Earth (1948).
Because of his very tall frame (6 feet, 6 inches) and sinister, bitter looking face, Dierkes enjoyed a long career as a character actor, often portraying menacing characters or soldiers.
Dierkes died in 1975 of emphesyma and was survived by his wife Cynthia, two sons, and two daughters.
