Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthdate
1912-05-26
Day of Death
1980-03-05
Place of Birth
Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Jay Silverheels
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.
Filmography (71)
The Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man
2013
The Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 60s and 70s
2002
Lone Ranger: Lost Episodes
2001
Santee
1973
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
1973
One Little Indian
1973
In Pursuit of Treasure
1972
Cat Ballou
1971
The Phynx
1970
True Grit
1969
Smith!
1969
The Movie Orgy
1968
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
1967
Indian Paint
1965
