Jay Silverheels
Age: N/A | From: Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Person Details
Birthday:
Aliases: Harold J. Smith , Harry Silversmith , Harry Smith
Gender: Male
Place of birth: Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Homepage:
Movie Involvements: 56
TV Involvements: 6
Most Famous Work
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.
Most Famous Work
Wanted: Dead or Alive
(1958) Charley Red Cloud
Rawhide
(1959) Pawnee Joe
Daniel Boone
(1964) Latawa
The Lone Ranger
(1949) Tonto
True Grit
(1969) Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
Broken Arrow
(1950) Geronimo
Key Largo
(1948) Tom Osceola (uncredited)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
(1948) Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)Acting
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Tonto | |
| 1973 | John Crow | |
| The Chief | ||
| Jimmy Wolf | ||
| 1971 | N/A | |
| Indian Chief | ||
| 1970 | Tonto | |
| 1969 | N/A | |
| Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited) | ||
| McDonald Lasheway | ||
| 1968 | Tonto (archive footage) | |
| 1967 | Great Bear | |
| 1966 | N/A | |
| 1965 | Chief Hevatanu | |
| N/A | ||
| 1964 | Sashona | |
| Chenrogan | ||
| Latawa | ||
| 1960 | Natchez | |
| 1959 | Tonto (uncredited) | |
| Pawnee Joe | ||
| 1958 | Charley Red Cloud | |
| Tonto | ||
| Indian Joe | ||
| 1956 | Geronimo | |
| Tonto | ||
| 1955 | Beeteia | |
| 1954 | Yellow Hawk | |
| Yaqui | ||
| Black Buffalo | ||
| Taos | ||
| Cajou | ||
| 1953 | Satanta | |
| Spotted Bear | ||
| Red Cloud | ||
| Indian (uncredited) | ||
| 1952 | Chingachgook | |
| Lead Warrior | ||
| Chief Tecumseh | ||
| Geronimo | ||
| Apache (uncredited) | ||
| Tonto | ||
| 1951 | Benders | |
| Little Crow | ||
| 1950 | Geronimo | |
| 1949 | Tonto | |
| Lakohna | ||
| Indian (uncredited) | ||
| Poleon | ||
| Walter | ||
| Running Wolf (uncredited) | ||
| Creek Indian (uncredited) | ||
| Tonto | ||
| 1948 | Indian (uncredited) | |
| Diego (uncredited) | ||
| Elevator Boy (uncredited) | ||
| Abel | ||
| Tom Osceola (uncredited) | ||
| Little Dog (uncredited) | ||
| Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited) | ||
| 1947 | Coatl (uncredited) | |
| Running Deer | ||
| Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited) | ||
| 1944 | Lua (uncredited) | |
| Indian (uncredited) | ||
| Guard at Execution (uncredited) | ||
| 1943 | Astari Warrior (uncredited) | |
| Indian (uncredited) | ||
| Fighter Tito Flores | ||
| 1942 | Tuareg | |
| Indian | ||
| 1941 | Indian Marauder | |
| Indian | ||
| 1940 | Indian | |
| Indian | ||
| Native Lookout | ||
| N/A | ||
| Tonto | ||
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
