Jay Silverheels
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
Credits
- 2002 · The Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 60s and 70s as
- 2001 · Lone Ranger: Lost Episodes as Tonto
- 1973 · Santee as John Crow
- 1973 · The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing as The Chief
- 1973 · One Little Indian as Jimmy Wolf
- 1972 · In Pursuit of Treasure as
- 1971 · Cannon as
- 1971 · Cat Ballou as Indian Chief
- 1970 · The Phynx as Tonto
- 1969 · The Brady Bunch as
- 1969 · True Grit as Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
- 1969 · Smith! as McDonald Lasheway
- 1968 · The Movie Orgy as Tonto (archive footage)
- 1967 · Pistols 'n' Petticoats as Great Bear
- 1966 · Pistols 'n' Petticoats as
- 1965 · Indian Paint as Chief Hevatanu
- 1965 · Branded as
- 1964 · Daniel Boone as Sashona
- 1964 · Daniel Boone as Chenrogan
- 1964 · Daniel Boone as Latawa
- 1962 · The Virginian as Den'Gwatzi
- 1962 · The Virginian as Spotted Hand
- 1960 · Texas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge as Natchez
- 1959 · Alias Jesse James as Tonto (uncredited)
- 1959 · Rawhide as Pawnee Joe
- 1958 · Wanted: Dead or Alive as Charley Red Cloud
- 1958 · The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold as Tonto
- 1958 · Return to Warbow as Indian Joe
- 1956 · Walk the Proud Land as Geronimo
- 1956 · The Lone Ranger as Tonto
- 1955 · The Vanishing American as Beeteia
- 1954 · Masterson of Kansas as Yellow Hawk
- 1954 · Four Guns to the Border as Yaqui
- 1954 · The Black Dakotas as Black Buffalo
- 1954 · Drums Across the River as Taos
- 1954 · Saskatchewan as Cajou
- 1953 · War Arrow as Satanta
- 1953 · The Nebraskan as Spotted Bear
- 1953 · Jack McCall, Desperado as Red Cloud
- 1953 · Last of the Comanches as Indian (uncredited)
- 1952 · The Pathfinder as Chingachgook
- 1952 · Yankee Buccaneer as Lead Warrior
- 1952 · Brave Warrior as Chief Tecumseh
- 1952 · The Battle at Apache Pass as Geronimo
- 1952 · The Half-Breed as Apache (uncredited)
- 1952 · The Legend Of The Lone Ranger as Tonto
- 1951 · The Wild Blue Yonder as Benders
- 1951 · Red Mountain as Little Crow
- 1950 · Broken Arrow as Geronimo
- 1949 · The Lone Ranger as Tonto
- 1949 · The Cowboy and the Indians as Lakohna
- 1949 · Enter the Lone Ranger as Tonto
- 1949 · Sand as Indian (uncredited)
- 1949 · Trail of the Yukon as Poleon
- 1949 · Lust for Gold as Walter
- 1949 · Laramie as Running Wolf (uncredited)
- 1949 · Tulsa as Creek Indian (uncredited)
- 1948 · Yellow Sky as Indian (uncredited)
- 1948 · The Feathered Serpent as Diego (uncredited)
- 1948 · Family Honeymoon as Elevator Boy (uncredited)
- 1948 · Singin' Spurs as Abel
- 1948 · Key Largo as Tom Osceola (uncredited)
- 1948 · Fury at Furnace Creek as Little Dog (uncredited)
- 1948 · The Treasure of the Sierra Madre as Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)
- 1947 · Captain from Castile as Coatl (uncredited)
- 1947 · The Prairie as Running Deer
- 1947 · Gas House Kids Go West as Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited)
- 1944 · Tahiti Nights as Lua
- 1944 · I Am an American as Indian (uncredited)
- 1944 · Lost in a Harem as Guard at Execution (uncredited)
- 1943 · The Phantom as Astari Warrior (uncredited)
- 1943 · Northern Pursuit as Indian (uncredited)
- 1943 · The Girl from Monterrey as Fighter Tito Flores
- 1942 · Perils of Nyoka as Tuareg
- 1942 · Valley of the Sun as Indian
- 1941 · This Woman Is Mine as Indian Marauder
- 1941 · Western Union as Indian
- 1940 · Too Many Girls as Indian
- 1940 · Kit Carson as Indian
- 1940 · The Sea Hawk as Native Lookout
- Future · The Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man as Tonto