Acting
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 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.
Filmography
The Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man
Film · 2013
The Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 60s and 70s
Film · 2002
Lone Ranger: Lost Episodes
Film · 2001
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
Film · 1973
One Little Indian
Film · 1973
Santee
Film · 1973
In Pursuit of Treasure
Film · 1972
Cat Ballou
Film · 1971
Cannon
Series · 1971
The Phynx
Film · 1970
True Grit
Film · 1969
Smith!
Film · 1969
The Brady Bunch
Series · 1969
The Movie Orgy
Film · 1968
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
Film · 1967
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
Series · 1966
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
Series · 1966
Indian Paint
Film · 1965
Branded
Series · 1965
Daniel Boone
Series · 1964
Daniel Boone
Series · 1964
Daniel Boone
Series · 1964
The Virginian
Series · 1962
The Virginian
Series · 1962
Gunslinger
Series · 1961
Texas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge
Film · 1960
Alias Jesse James
Film · 1959
Rawhide
Series · 1959
The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold
Film · 1958
Return to Warbow
Film · 1958
The Western: A Lost TV Special
Film · 1958
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Series · 1958
The Lone Ranger
Film · 1956
Walk the Proud Land
Film · 1956
The Vanishing American
Film · 1955
Drums Across the River
Film · 1954
The Black Dakotas
Film · 1954
Saskatchewan
Film · 1954
Masterson of Kansas
Film · 1954
Four Guns to the Border
Film · 1954
Jack McCall, Desperado
Film · 1953
The Nebraskan
Film · 1953
War Arrow
Film · 1953
Last of the Comanches
Film · 1953
Yankee Buccaneer
Film · 1952
The Half-Breed
Film · 1952
The Pathfinder
Film · 1952
Brave Warrior
Film · 1952
The Battle at Apache Pass
Film · 1952
The Legend Of The Lone Ranger
Film · 1952
Red Mountain
Film · 1951
The Wild Blue Yonder
Film · 1951
Broken Arrow
Film · 1950
Tulsa
Film · 1949
The Cowboy and the Indians
Film · 1949
Sand
Film · 1949
Lust for Gold
Film · 1949
Laramie
Film · 1949
Trail of the Yukon
Film · 1949
The Lone Ranger
Series · 1949
The Feathered Serpent
Film · 1948
Fury at Furnace Creek
Film · 1948
Family Honeymoon
Film · 1948
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Film · 1948
Key Largo
Film · 1948
Singin' Spurs
Film · 1948
Yellow Sky
Film · 1948
Captain from Castile
Film · 1947
Gas House Kids Go West
Film · 1947
The Prairie
Film · 1947
The Last Round-up
Film · 1947
Tahiti Nights
Film · 1944
Lost in a Harem
Film · 1944
I Am an American
Film · 1944
Passage to Marseille
Film · 1944
Northern Pursuit
Film · 1943
The Phantom
Film · 1943
The Girl from Monterrey
Film · 1943
Perils of Nyoka
Film · 1942
Valley of the Sun
Film · 1942
This Woman Is Mine
Film · 1941
Western Union
Film · 1941
Kit Carson
Film · 1940
The Sea Hawk
Film · 1940
Too Many Girls
Film · 1940
Hudson's Bay
Film · 1940
A Different Drum
Film