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Jay Silverheels

Actor | * 05/26/1912 († 67, 03/05/1980) | Brantford (Canada)
Jay Silverheels (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980, Mohawk) was a Canadian actor and athlete, descended from three Iroquois nations. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of The Lone Ranger in the American Western television series The Lone Ranger. ()

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.

Photo of Jay Silverheels
Most frequent genres for this person: Western | Comedies | Drama

Known for these Movies & Shows

Awards & Nominations for Jay Silverheels

Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame Star On Hollywood Walk of Fame
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Movies with Jay Silverheels as Actor(60)

as Jimmy Wolf1973 One Little Indian
as John Crow1973 Santee
as Indian Chief1971 Cat Ballou
as Tonto1970 The Phynx
as McDonald Lasheway1969 Smith!
as Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)1969 True Grit
as Tonto (archive footage)1968 The Movie Orgy
as Chief Hevatanu1965 Indian Paint
as Tonto (uncredited)1959 Alias Jesse James
as Indian Joe1958 Return to Warbow
as Tonto1956 The Lone Ranger
as Geronimo1956 Walk the Proud Land
as Beeteia1955 The Vanishing American
as Black Buffalo1954 The Black Dakotas
as Yellow Hawk1954 Masterson of Kansas
as Satanta1954 War Arrow
as Cajou1954 Saskatchewan
as Red Cloud1953 Jack McCall Desperado
as Spotted Bear1953 The Nebraskan
as Indian (uncredited)1953 Last of the Comanches
as Chief Tecumseh1952 Brave Warrior
as Lead Warrior1952 Yankee Buccaneer
as Chingachgook1952 The Pathfinder
as Benders1951 The Wild Blue Yonder
as Little Crow1951 Red Mountain
as Geronimo1950 Broken Arrow
as Indian (uncredited)1949 Sand
as Walter1949 Lust for Gold
as Poleon1949 Trail of the Yukon
as Running Wolf (uncredited)1949 Laramie
as Little Dog (uncredited)1948 Fury at Furnace Creek
as Indian (uncredited)1948 Yellow Sky
as Tom Osceola (uncredited)1948 Key Largo
as Diego (uncredited)1948 The Feathered Serpent
as Abel1948 Singin' Spurs
as Elevator Boy (uncredited)1948 Family Honeymoon
as Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)1948 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
as Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited)1947 Gas House Kids Go West
as Running Deer1947 The Prairie
as Lua (uncredited)1944 Tahiti Nights
as Guard at Execution (uncredited)1944 Lost in a Harem
as Indian (uncredited)1944 I Am an American
as Fighter Tito Flores1943 The Girl from Monterrey
as Indian (uncredited)1943 Northern Pursuit
as Indian1942 Valley of the Sun
as Tuareg1942 Perils of Nyoka
as Indian1941 Western Union
as Indian Marauder1941 This Woman Is Mine
as Native Lookout1940 The Sea Hawk
as Indian1940 Kit Carson
as Indian1940 Too Many Girls

TV Shows/Series with Jay Silverheels as Actor(10)

1971 Cannon
1965 Branded
as Sashona1964 Daniel Boone
as Chenrogan1964 Daniel Boone
as Latawa1964 Daniel Boone
as Pawnee Joe1959 Rawhide
as Charley Red Cloud1958 Wanted: Dead or Alive
as Tonto1949 The Lone Ranger

Full Name: Jay Silverheels
Citizenship: Canada
Born: Sunday, 05/26 1912 (May) in Brantford (Canada)
Died: Wednesday, 03/05 1980 (March) in Woodland Hills (aged: 67)
Zodiac sign: Gemini (Chinese zodiac sign: Rat)
Other names for Jay Silverheels (nicknames, foreign languages etc.):
"Harold J. Smith"
"Harry Silversmith"
"Harry Smith"
Jay Silverheels frequently works together with these people:
Harry Harvey (18x, Actor)
Joseph V. Perry (13x, Actor)
Harry Lauter (12x, Actor)
Iron Eyes Cody (11x, Actor)
Ted White (11x, Actor)
Claude Akins (10x, Actor)
Michael Pate (10x, Actor)
John Pickard (10x, Actor)
Robert J. Wilke (9x, Actor)
Royal Dano (9x, Actor)
Clayton Moore (8x, Actor)
William Phipps (8x, Actor)
WatchPlayStream ID: PEOPLE:94599, Added: 05/27/2018, Last updated: 10/18/2024