Cast
Jay Silverheels
Acting
Cast
Jay Silverheels
Known for
Acting
Born
1912-05-26
From
Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Died
1980-03-05
Also known as Harold J. Smith, Harry Silversmith, Harry Smith
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.
True Grit
as Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
Broken Arrow
as Geronimo (uncredited)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
as Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)
Kit Carson
as Indian
War Arrow
as Satanta
Yellow Sky
as Indian (uncredited)
Saskatchewan
as Cajou
Western Union
as Indian
Northern Pursuit
as Indian (uncredited)
Tulsa
as Creek Indian (uncredited)
Key Largo
as Tom Osceola (uncredited)
Santee
as John Crow
Alias Jesse James
as Tonto (uncredited)
Indian Paint
as Chief Hevatanu
Tahiti Nights
as Lua
The Phantom
as Astari Warrior (uncredited)
The Sea Hawk
as Native Lookout
The Movie Orgy
as Tonto (archive footage)
Red Mountain
as Little Crow
The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold
as Tonto
Four Guns to the Border
as Yaqui
The Battle at Apache Pass
as Geronimo
The Lone Ranger
as Tonto
Captain from Castile
as Coatl (uncredited)
Lust for Gold
as Walter
The Black Dakotas
as Black Buffalo
Smith!
as McDonald Lasheway
One Little Indian
as Jimmy Wolf
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
as The Chief
Family Honeymoon
as Elevator Boy (uncredited)
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
as Great Bear
Yankee Buccaneer
as Lead Warrior
The Phynx
as Tonto
Last of the Comanches
as Indian (uncredited)
Drums Across the River
as Taos
Walk the Proud Land
as Geronimo
Singin' Spurs
as Abel
The Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 60s and 70s
The Pathfinder
as Chingachgook
The Legend Of The Lone Ranger
as Tonto
Brave Warrior
as Chief Tecumseh
Hudson's Bay
as Indian (uncredited)
The Nebraskan
as Spotted Bear
Return to Warbow
as Indian Joe
Masterson of Kansas
as Yellow Hawk
The Half-Breed
as Apache (uncredited)
Lost in a Harem
as Guard at Execution (uncredited)
In Pursuit of Treasure
The Cowboy and the Indians
as Lakohna
Cat Ballou
as Indian Chief
This Woman Is Mine
as Indian Marauder
The Prairie
as Running Deer
Jack McCall, Desperado
as Red Cloud
The Last Round-up
Laramie
as Running Wolf (uncredited)
Valley of the Sun
as Indian (uncredited)
The Wild Blue Yonder
as Benders
Fury at Furnace Creek
as Little Dog (uncredited)
Sand
as Indian (uncredited)
Too Many Girls
as Indian
The Girl from Monterrey
as Fighter Tito Flores
Trail of the Yukon
as Poleon
The Vanishing American
as Beeteia
The Feathered Serpent
as Diego (uncredited)
I Am an American
as Indian (uncredited)
Lone Ranger: Lost Episodes
as Tonto
Gas House Kids Go West
as Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited)
Texas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge
as Natchez
Perils of Nyoka
as Tuareg
The Western: A Lost TV Special
as Self
The Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man
as Tonto
A Different Drum
as Jim Swift Hands