4
Jay Silverheels
Born · May 26, 1912
Died · March 5, 1980 (67 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Bio
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.
The Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 60s and 70s
0.0
2002
Lone Ranger: Lost Episodes
Tonto
0.0
2001
Santee
John Crow
5.3
1973
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
The Chief
5.8
1973
One Little Indian
Jimmy Wolf
6.3
1973
In Pursuit of Treasure
0.0
1972
Cannon
(1 episode)
6.5
1971
Cat Ballou
Indian Chief
0.0
1971
The Phynx
Tonto
3.5
1970
The Brady Bunch
(1 episode)
6.7
1969
True Grit
Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
7.4
1969
Smith!
McDonald Lasheway
5.6
1969
The Movie Orgy
Tonto (archive footage)
6.2
1968
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
Great Bear
0.0
1967
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
(2 episodes)
7.5
1966
Indian Paint
Chief Hevatanu
5.3
1965
Branded
(1 episode)
6.4
1965
Daniel Boone
Sashona · (1 episode)
6.9
1964
Daniel Boone
Latawa · (1 episode)
6.9
1964
Daniel Boone
Chenrogan · (1 episode)
6.9
1964
The Virginian
Den'Gwatzi · (1 episode)
6.4
1962
The Virginian
Spotted Hand · (1 episode)
6.4
1962
Texas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge
Natchez
0.0
1960
Alias Jesse James
Tonto (uncredited)
5.9
1959
Rawhide
Pawnee Joe · (1 episode)
7.1
1959
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Charley Red Cloud · (1 episode)
6.9
1958
The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold
Tonto
6.5
1958
Return to Warbow
Indian Joe
5.8
1958
Walk the Proud Land
Geronimo
6.1
1956
The Lone Ranger
Tonto
6.1
1956
The Vanishing American
Beeteia
4.0
1955
Masterson of Kansas
Yellow Hawk
5.8
1954
Four Guns to the Border
Yaqui
4.5
1954
The Black Dakotas
Black Buffalo
5.1
1954
Drums Across the River
Taos
5.4
1954
Saskatchewan
Cajou
5.9
1954
War Arrow
Satanta
5.6
1953
The Nebraskan
Spotted Bear
3.0
1953
Jack McCall, Desperado
Red Cloud
5.3
1953
Last of the Comanches
Indian (uncredited)
6.4
1953
The Pathfinder
Chingachgook
4.0
1952
Yankee Buccaneer
Lead Warrior
5.8
1952
Brave Warrior
Chief Tecumseh
4.0
1952
The Battle at Apache Pass
Geronimo
6.3
1952
The Half-Breed
Apache (uncredited)
5.0
1952
The Legend Of The Lone Ranger
Tonto
6.0
1952
The Wild Blue Yonder
Benders
6.0
1951
Red Mountain
Little Crow
6.2
1951
Broken Arrow
Geronimo
6.7
1950
The Cowboy and the Indians
Lakohna
6.8
1949
Enter the Lone Ranger
Tonto
3.5
1949
The Lone Ranger
Tonto · (221 episodes)
6.8
1949
Sand
Indian (uncredited)
4.5
1949
Trail of the Yukon
Poleon
6.0
1949
Lust for Gold
Walter
5.9
1949
Laramie
Running Wolf (uncredited)
6.5
1949
Tulsa
Creek Indian (uncredited)
6.3
1949
Yellow Sky
Indian (uncredited)
6.9
1948
The Feathered Serpent
Diego (uncredited)
5.8
1948
Family Honeymoon
Elevator Boy (uncredited)
5.7
1948
Singin' Spurs
Abel
0.0
1948
Key Largo
Tom Osceola (uncredited)
7.5
1948
Fury at Furnace Creek
Little Dog (uncredited)
6.0
1948
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)
8.0
1948
Captain from Castile
Coatl (uncredited)
7.2
1947
The Prairie
Running Deer
6.0
1947
Gas House Kids Go West
Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited)
6.0
1947
Tahiti Nights
Lua
0.0
1944
I Am an American
Indian (uncredited)
5.3
1944
Lost in a Harem
Guard at Execution (uncredited)
5.5
1944
The Phantom
Astari Warrior (uncredited)
6.2
1943
Northern Pursuit
Indian (uncredited)
5.9
1943
The Girl from Monterrey
Fighter Tito Flores
0.0
1943
Perils of Nyoka
Tuareg
0.0
1942
Valley of the Sun
Indian
5.8
1942
This Woman Is Mine
Indian Marauder
3.2
1941
Western Union
Indian
6.0
1941
Too Many Girls
Indian
5.7
1940
Kit Carson
Indian
5.9
1940
The Sea Hawk
Native Lookout
7.1
1940
The Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man
Tonto
0.0