Jay Silverheels
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- May 26, 1912
- Died
- March 5, 1980
- Birthplace
- Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
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.
Filmography
A Different Drum TBA
as Jim Swift Hands
The Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man 2013
as Tonto
The Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 60s and 70s 2002
Actor
Lone Ranger: Lost Episodes 2001
as Tonto
Santee 1973
as John Crow
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing 1973
as The Chief
One Little Indian 1973
as Jimmy Wolf
In Pursuit of Treasure 1972
Actor
Cat Ballou 1971
as Indian Chief
The Phynx 1970
as Tonto
True Grit 1969
as Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
Smith! 1969
as McDonald Lasheway
The Movie Orgy 1968
as Tonto (archive footage)
Pistols 'n' Petticoats 1967
as Great Bear
Indian Paint 1965
as Chief Hevatanu
Texas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge 1960
as Natchez
Alias Jesse James 1959
as Tonto (uncredited)
The Western: A Lost TV Special 1958
as Self
The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold 1958
as Tonto
Return to Warbow 1958
as Indian Joe
Walk the Proud Land 1956
as Geronimo
The Lone Ranger 1956
as Tonto
The Vanishing American 1955
as Beeteia
The Lone Ranger Story 1955
as Self - Tonto
Masterson of Kansas 1954
as Yellow Hawk
Four Guns to the Border 1954
as Yaqui
The Black Dakotas 1954
as Black Buffalo
Drums Across the River 1954
as Taos
Saskatchewan 1954
as Cajou
War Arrow 1953
as Satanta
The Nebraskan 1953
as Spotted Bear
Jack McCall, Desperado 1953
as Red Cloud
Last of the Comanches 1953
as Indian (uncredited)
The Pathfinder 1952
as Chingachgook
Yankee Buccaneer 1952
as Lead Warrior
Brave Warrior 1952
as Chief Tecumseh
The Battle at Apache Pass 1952
as Geronimo
The Half-Breed 1952
as Apache (uncredited)
The Legend Of The Lone Ranger 1952
as Tonto
The Wild Blue Yonder 1951
as Benders
Red Mountain 1951
as Little Crow
Broken Arrow 1950
as Geronimo (uncredited)
The Cowboy and the Indians 1949
as Lakohna
Sand 1949
as Indian (uncredited)
Trail of the Yukon 1949
as Poleon
Lust for Gold 1949
as Walter
Laramie 1949
as Running Wolf (uncredited)
Tulsa 1949
as Creek Indian (uncredited)
Yellow Sky 1948
as Indian (uncredited)
The Feathered Serpent 1948
as Diego (uncredited)
Family Honeymoon 1948
as Elevator Boy (uncredited)
Singin' Spurs 1948
as Abel
Key Largo 1948
as Tom Osceola (uncredited)
Fury at Furnace Creek 1948
as Little Dog (uncredited)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948
as Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)
Captain from Castile 1947
as Coatl (uncredited)
The Prairie 1947
as Running Deer
The Last Round-up 1947
Actor
Gas House Kids Go West 1947
as Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited)
Tahiti Nights 1944
as Lua
- I Am an American
I Am an American 1944
as Indian (uncredited)
Lost in a Harem 1944
as Guard at Execution (uncredited)
Passage to Marseille 1944
as Sailor Crewman on Boat Deck (uncredited)
The Phantom 1943
as Astari Warrior (uncredited)
Northern Pursuit 1943
as Indian (uncredited)
The Girl from Monterrey 1943
as Fighter Tito Flores
Perils of Nyoka 1942
as Tuareg
Valley of the Sun 1942
as Indian (uncredited)
This Woman Is Mine 1941
as Indian Marauder
Western Union 1941
as Indian
Hudson's Bay 1940
as Indian (uncredited)
Too Many Girls 1940
as Indian (uncredited)
Kit Carson 1940
as Indian
The Sea Hawk 1940
as Native Lookout
Credits from TMDB.