Jay Silverheels
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- May 26, 1912
- Died
- March 5, 1980 (aged 67)
- Birthplace
- Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Biography
Jay Silverheels was born on a reservation in Canada to a Mohawk chief. He was a star lacrosse player and a boxer before he entered films as a stuntman in 1938. He worked in a number of films though the 1940s before he gained some notice as the Osceola brother in Humphrey Bogart's film Key Largo (1948). Most of his roles consisted of bit parts as "Indian." In 1949, he would work in a movie called The Cowboy and the Indians (1949) with another "B movie" actor named Clayton Moore. It was later that same year that Jay would be hired to play the faithful Indian companion, Tonto, in the television series "The Lone Ranger" (1949). This role, while still playing the "Indian," would bring Jay the fame that his motion picture career never did. As Tonto, on his horse Scout, Jay could show up where the Ranger could not and some of the time he would be shot at or beat up for his trouble. Jay would play Tonto in all the episodes except for those that he missed when he had his heart attack. In those episodes, he was replaced by the Ranger's nephew, Dan. However, Clayton Moore would miss the third season when he was replaced by John Hart. Jay would reprise the role of Tonto in two big-screen color movies with Moore, The Lone Ranger (1956) and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958). After the series ended in 1957, Jay could not escape the typecasting of Tonto. He would continue to appear in an occasional film and television show, but he would become a spokesman to improve the portrayal of Indians on TV.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
A Different Drum
Movie · as Jim Swift Hands
The Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man
Movie · as Tonto
The Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 60s and 70s
Movie
Lone Ranger: Lost Episodes
Movie · as Tonto
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
Movie · as The Chief
One Little Indian
Movie · as Jimmy Wolf
Santee
Movie · as John Crow
In Pursuit of Treasure
Movie
Cat Ballou
Movie · as Indian Chief
Cannon
TV · 1 ep
The Phynx
Movie · as Tonto
True Grit
Movie · as Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
Smith!
Movie · as McDonald Lasheway
The Brady Bunch
TV · as Chief Eagle Cloud · 1 ep
The Movie Orgy
Movie · as Tonto (archive footage)
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
Movie · as Great Bear
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
TV · as Great Bear · 1 ep
Indian Paint
Movie · as Chief Hevatanu
Branded
TV · 1 ep
Daniel Boone
TV · as Sashona, Latawa, Chenrogan · 1 ep
The Virginian
TV · as Den'Gwatzi, Spotted Hand · 1 ep
Gunslinger
TV · as Hopi Indian · 1 ep
Texas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge
Movie · as Natchez
Alias Jesse James
Movie · as Tonto (uncredited)
Rawhide
TV · as Pawnee Joe · 1 ep
The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold
Movie · as Tonto
Return to Warbow
Movie · as Indian Joe
The Western: A Lost TV Special
Movie · as Self
Wanted: Dead or Alive
TV · as Charley Red Cloud · 1 ep
The Lone Ranger
Movie · as Tonto
Walk the Proud Land
Movie · as Geronimo
The Vanishing American
Movie · as Beeteia
The Lone Ranger Story
Movie · as Self - Tonto
Drums Across the River
Movie · as Taos
The Black Dakotas
Movie · as Black Buffalo
Saskatchewan
Movie · as Cajou
Masterson of Kansas
Movie · as Yellow Hawk
Four Guns to the Border
Movie · as Yaqui
Jack McCall, Desperado
Movie · as Red Cloud
The Nebraskan
Movie · as Spotted Bear
War Arrow
Movie · as Satanta
Last of the Comanches
Movie · as Indian (uncredited)
Yankee Buccaneer
Movie · as Lead Warrior
The Half-Breed
Movie · as Apache (uncredited)
The Pathfinder
Movie · as Chingachgook
Brave Warrior
Movie · as Chief Tecumseh
The Battle at Apache Pass
Movie · as Geronimo
The Legend Of The Lone Ranger
Movie · as Tonto
Red Mountain
Movie · as Little Crow
The Wild Blue Yonder
Movie · as Benders
Broken Arrow
Movie · as Geronimo (uncredited)
Tulsa
Movie · as Creek Indian (uncredited)
The Cowboy and the Indians
Movie · as Lakohna
Sand
Movie · as Indian (uncredited)
Lust for Gold
Movie · as Walter
Laramie
Movie · as Running Wolf (uncredited)
Trail of the Yukon
Movie · as Poleon
The Lone Ranger
TV · as Tonto · 221 eps
The Feathered Serpent
Movie · as Diego (uncredited)
Fury at Furnace Creek
Movie · as Little Dog (uncredited)
Family Honeymoon
Movie · as Elevator Boy (uncredited)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Movie · as Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)
Key Largo
Movie · as Tom Osceola (uncredited)
Singin' Spurs
Movie · as Abel
Yellow Sky
Movie · as Indian (uncredited)
Captain from Castile
Movie · as Coatl (uncredited)
Gas House Kids Go West
Movie · as Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited)
The Prairie
Movie · as Running Deer
The Last Round-up
Movie
Tahiti Nights
Movie · as Lua
Lost in a Harem
Movie · as Guard at Execution (uncredited)
I Am an American
Movie · as Indian (uncredited)
Passage to Marseille
Movie · as Sailor Crewman on Boat Deck (uncredited)
Northern Pursuit
Movie · as Indian (uncredited)
The Phantom
Movie · as Astari Warrior (uncredited)
The Girl from Monterrey
Movie · as Fighter Tito Flores
Perils of Nyoka
Movie · as Tuareg
Valley of the Sun
Movie · as Indian (uncredited)
This Woman Is Mine
Movie · as Indian Marauder
Western Union
Movie · as Indian
Kit Carson
Movie · as Indian
The Sea Hawk
Movie · as Native Lookout
Too Many Girls
Movie · as Indian (uncredited)
Hudson's Bay
Movie · as Indian (uncredited)