- Known For
- Acting
- Born
- May 26, 1912
- Place of Birth
- Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
- Died
- March 5, 1980
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 w…
Filmography
movieThe Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man
2013 · Tonto
movieThe Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 60s and 70s
2002
movieLone Ranger: Lost Episodes
2001 · Tonto
movieSantee
1973 · John Crow
movieThe Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
1973 · The Chief
movieOne Little Indian
1973 · Jimmy Wolf
movieIn Pursuit of Treasure
1972
tvCannon
1971
movieCat Ballou
1971 · Indian Chief
movieThe Phynx
1970 · Tonto
tvThe Brady Bunch
1969 · Chief Eagle Cloud
movieTrue Grit
1969 · Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
movieSmith!
1969 · McDonald Lasheway
movieThe Movie Orgy
1968 · Tonto (archive footage)
moviePistols 'n' Petticoats
1967 · Great Bear
tvPistols 'n' Petticoats
1966
movieIndian Paint
1965 · Chief Hevatanu
tvBranded
1965
tvDaniel Boone
1964 · Sashona, Chenrogan, Latawa
tvThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
tvThe Virginian
1962 · Den'Gwatzi, Spotted Hand
tvGunslinger
1961 · Hopi Indian
movieTexas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge
1960 · Natchez
movieAlias Jesse James
1959 · Tonto (uncredited)
tvRawhide
1959 · Pawnee Joe
tvWanted: Dead or Alive
1958 · Charley Red Cloud
movieThe Western: A Lost TV Special
1958 · Self
movieThe Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold
1958 · Tonto
movieReturn to Warbow
1958 · Indian Joe
movieWalk the Proud Land
1956 · Geronimo
movieThe Lone Ranger
1956 · Tonto
movieThe Vanishing American
1955 · Beeteia
movieMasterson of Kansas
1954 · Yellow Hawk
movieFour Guns to the Border
1954 · Yaqui
movieThe Black Dakotas
1954 · Black Buffalo
movieDrums Across the River
1954 · Taos
movieSaskatchewan
1954 · Cajou
movieWar Arrow
1953 · Satanta
movieThe Nebraskan
1953 · Spotted Bear
movieJack McCall, Desperado
1953 · Red Cloud
movieLast of the Comanches
1953 · Indian (uncredited)
movieThe Pathfinder
1952 · Chingachgook
movieYankee Buccaneer
1952 · Lead Warrior
movieBrave Warrior
1952 · Chief Tecumseh
movieThe Battle at Apache Pass
1952 · Geronimo
movieThe Half-Breed
1952 · Apache (uncredited)
movieThe Legend Of The Lone Ranger
1952 · Tonto
movieThe Wild Blue Yonder
1951 · Benders
movieRed Mountain
1951 · Little Crow
movieBroken Arrow
1950 · Geronimo (uncredited)
movieThe Cowboy and the Indians
1949 · Lakohna
tvThe Lone Ranger
1949 · Tonto
movieSand
1949 · Indian (uncredited)
movieTrail of the Yukon
1949 · Poleon
movieLust for Gold
1949 · Walter
movieLaramie
1949 · Running Wolf (uncredited)
movieTulsa
1949 · Creek Indian (uncredited)
movieYellow Sky
1948 · Indian (uncredited)
movieThe Feathered Serpent
1948 · Diego (uncredited)
movieFamily Honeymoon
1948 · Elevator Boy (uncredited)
movieSingin' Spurs
1948 · Abel
movieKey Largo
1948 · Tom Osceola (uncredited)
movieFury at Furnace Creek
1948 · Little Dog (uncredited)
movieThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre
1948 · Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)
movieCaptain from Castile
1947 · Coatl (uncredited)
movieThe Prairie
1947 · Running Deer
movieThe Last Round-up
1947
movieGas House Kids Go West
1947 · Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited)
movieTahiti Nights
1944 · Lua
I Am an American
movieI Am an American
1944 · Indian (uncredited)
movieLost in a Harem
1944 · Guard at Execution (uncredited)
movieThe Phantom
1943 · Astari Warrior (uncredited)
movieNorthern Pursuit
1943 · Indian (uncredited)
movieThe Girl from Monterrey
1943 · Fighter Tito Flores
moviePerils of Nyoka
1942 · Tuareg
movieValley of the Sun
1942 · Indian (uncredited)
movieThis Woman Is Mine
1941 · Indian Marauder
movieWestern Union
1941 · Indian
movieHudson's Bay
1940 · Indian (uncredited)
movieToo Many Girls
1940 · Indian (uncredited)
movieKit Carson
1940 · Indian
movieThe Sea Hawk
1940 · Native Lookout
movieA Different Drum
— · Jim Swift Hands