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person_profile-Jay Silverheels

Jay Silverheels Died at age: 67

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Jay Silverheels

Date of Birth:

May 26, 1912

Country of birth:

Canada

Died:

Mar 05, 1980

Biography of

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.

Photos of

Jay Silverheels

Photos ( 2 Photos

Filmography of

Jay Silverheels

Found 66 Movies in total

... 2001

Santee

John Crow ( Actor )

... 1973

... 1973

One Little Indian

Jimmy Wolf ( Actor )

... 1973

... 1972

The Phynx

Tonto ( Actor )

... 1970

True Grit

Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1969

Smith!

McDonald Lasheway ( Actor )

... 1969

The Movie Orgy

Tonto (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1968

Pistols 'n' Petticoats

Great Bear ( Actor )

... 1967

Indian Paint

Chief Hevatanu ( Actor )

... 1965

... 1960

Alias Jesse James

Tonto (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1959

... 1958

Return to Warbow

Indian Joe ( Actor )

... 1958

Walk the Proud Land

Geronimo ( Actor )

... 1956

The Lone Ranger

Tonto ( Actor )

... 1956

The Vanishing American

Beeteia ( Actor )

... 1955

Masterson of Kansas

Yellow Hawk ( Actor )

... 1954

... 1954

The Black Dakotas

Black Buffalo ( Actor )

... 1954

... 1954

Saskatchewan

Cajou ( Actor )

... 1954

War Arrow

Satanta ( Actor )

... 1953

The Nebraskan

Spotted Bear ( Actor )

... 1953

Jack McCall, Desperado

Red Cloud ( Actor )

... 1953

Last of the Comanches

Indian (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1953

The Pathfinder

Chingachgook ( Actor )

... 1952

Yankee Buccaneer

Lead Warrior ( Actor )

... 1952

Brave Warrior

Chief Tecumseh ( Actor )

... 1952

The Battle at Apache Pass

Geronimo ( Actor )

... 1952

The Half-Breed

Apache (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1952

... 1952

The Wild Blue Yonder

Benders ( Actor )

... 1951

Red Mountain

Little Crow ( Actor )

... 1951

Broken Arrow

Geronimo ( Actor )

... 1950

... 1949

Enter the Lone Ranger

Tonto ( Actor )

... 1949

Sand

Indian (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1949

Trail of the Yukon

Poleon ( Actor )

... 1949

Lust for Gold

Walter ( Actor )

... 1949

Laramie

Running Wolf (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1949

Tulsa

Creek Indian (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1949

Yellow Sky

Indian (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1948

The Feathered Serpent

Diego (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1948

Family Honeymoon

Elevator Boy (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1948

Singin' Spurs

Abel ( Actor )

... 1948

Key Largo

Tom Osceola (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1948

Fury at Furnace Creek

Little Dog (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1948

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1948

Captain from Castile

Coatl (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1947

The Prairie

Running Deer ( Actor )

... 1947

Gas House Kids Go West

Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1947

Tahiti Nights

Lua (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1944

Lost in a Harem

Guard at Execution (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1944

The Phantom

Astari Warrior (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1943

Northern Pursuit

Indian (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1943

The Girl from Monterrey

Fighter Tito Flores ( Actor )

... 1943

Perils of Nyoka

Tuareg ( Actor )

... 1942

Valley of the Sun

Indian ( Actor )

... 1942

This Woman Is Mine

Indian Marauder ( Actor )

... 1941

Western Union

Indian ( Actor )

... 1941

Too Many Girls

Indian ( Actor )

... 1940

Kit Carson

Indian ( Actor )

... 1940

The Sea Hawk

Native Lookout ( Actor )

... 1940

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