1912-05-26 Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
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.
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The Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 60s and 70s | 2002-10-13 | |
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Lone Ranger: Lost Episodes | Tonto | 2001-05-29 |
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One Little Indian | Jimmy Wolf | 1973-06-20 |
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Santee | John Crow | 1973-09-01 |
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The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing | The Chief | 1973-06-28 |
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In Pursuit of Treasure | 1972-03-17 | |
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Cat Ballou | Indian Chief | 1971-09-06 |
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The Phynx | Tonto | 1970-03-06 |
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True Grit | Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited) | 1969-06-11 |
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Smith! | McDonald Lasheway | 1969-03-21 |
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The Movie Orgy | Tonto (archive footage) | 1968-01-01 |
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Pistols 'n' Petticoats | Great Bear | 1967-09-05 |
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Indian Paint | Chief Hevatanu | 1965-04-08 |
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Texas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge | Natchez | 1960-03-04 |
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Alias Jesse James | Tonto (uncredited) | 1959-03-20 |
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Return to Warbow | Indian Joe | 1958-01-15 |
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The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold | Tonto | 1958-06-04 |
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Walk the Proud Land | Geronimo | 1956-09-01 |
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The Lone Ranger | Tonto | 1956-02-25 |
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The Vanishing American | Beeteia | 1955-11-17 |
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Masterson of Kansas | Yellow Hawk | 1954-12-01 |
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Four Guns to the Border | Yaqui | 1954-11-05 |
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The Black Dakotas | Black Buffalo | 1954-09-02 |
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Drums Across the River | Taos | 1954-06-01 |
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Saskatchewan | Cajou | 1954-03-30 |
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The Nebraskan | Spotted Bear | 1953-12-02 |
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War Arrow | Satanta | 1953-12-26 |
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Jack McCall, Desperado | Red Cloud | 1953-04-01 |
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Last of the Comanches | Indian (uncredited) | 1953-02-01 |
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Brave Warrior | Chief Tecumseh | 1952-05-31 |
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The Legend Of The Lone Ranger | Tonto | 1952-01-01 |
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The Half-Breed | Apache (uncredited) | 1952-05-03 |
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Yankee Buccaneer | Lead Warrior | 1952-09-16 |
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The Pathfinder | Chingachgook | 1952-12-09 |
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The Battle at Apache Pass | Geronimo | 1952-05-09 |
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Red Mountain | Little Crow | 1951-11-01 |
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The Wild Blue Yonder | Benders | 1951-12-05 |
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Broken Arrow | Geronimo (uncredited) | 1950-07-21 |
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Lust for Gold | Walter | 1949-06-10 |
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Laramie | Running Wolf (uncredited) | 1949-05-19 |
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Trail of the Yukon | Poleon | 1949-07-31 |
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Sand | Indian (uncredited) | 1949-08-03 |
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The Cowboy and the Indians | Lakohna | 1949-09-15 |
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Tulsa | Creek Indian (uncredited) | 1949-04-13 |
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Singin' Spurs | Abel | 1948-09-22 |
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The Feathered Serpent | Diego (uncredited) | 1948-12-19 |
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Key Largo | Tom Osceola (uncredited) | 1948-07-16 |
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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre | Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited) | 1948-01-15 |
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Yellow Sky | Indian (uncredited) | 1948-12-24 |
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Family Honeymoon | Elevator Boy (uncredited) | 1948-12-06 |
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Fury at Furnace Creek | Little Dog (uncredited) | 1948-04-30 |
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The Prairie | Running Deer | 1947-11-27 |
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Gas House Kids Go West | Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited) | 1947-06-12 |
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Captain from Castile | Coatl (uncredited) | 1947-12-25 |
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Tahiti Nights | Lua | 1944-12-28 |
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Lost in a Harem | Guard at Execution (uncredited) | 1944-12-01 |
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I Am an American | Indian (uncredited) | 1944-12-23 |
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Northern Pursuit | Indian (uncredited) | 1943-11-07 |
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The Phantom | Astari Warrior (uncredited) | 1943-12-24 |
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The Girl from Monterrey | Fighter Tito Flores | 1943-10-04 |
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Perils of Nyoka | Tuareg | 1942-06-27 |
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Valley of the Sun | Indian | 1942-02-06 |
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This Woman Is Mine | Indian Marauder | 1941-08-22 |
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Western Union | Indian | 1941-02-21 |
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The Sea Hawk | Native Lookout | 1940-08-10 |
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Kit Carson | Indian | 1940-08-30 |
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Too Many Girls | Indian | 1940-10-08 |
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The Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man | Tonto |
