Jay Silverheels
Known for: Acting
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
Series
The Virginian
Den'Gwatzi
1962
Series
The Virginian
Spotted Hand
1962
Series
Cannon
1971
Series
Rawhide
Pawnee Joe
1959
Series
Daniel Boone
Sashona
1964
Series
Daniel Boone
Latawa
1964
Series
Daniel Boone
Chenrogan
1964
Series
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Charley Red Cloud
1958
Series
The Lone Ranger
Tonto
1949
Series
The Brady Bunch
Chief Eagle Cloud
1969
Series
Branded
1965
Film
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)
1948
Film
True Grit
Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
1969
Film
The Sea Hawk
Native Lookout
1940
Series
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
1966
Series
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
Great Bear
1966
Film
Western Union
Indian
1941
Series
Gunslinger
Hopi Indian
1961
Film
Key Largo
Tom Osceola (uncredited)
1948
Film
Broken Arrow
Geronimo (uncredited)
1950
Film
Alias Jesse James
Tonto (uncredited)
1959
Film
Yellow Sky
Indian (uncredited)
1948
Film
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
The Chief
1973
Film
The Lone Ranger
Tonto
1956
Film
Lust for Gold
Walter
1949
Film
The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold
Tonto
1958
Film
The Half-Breed
Apache (uncredited)
1952
Film
The Movie Orgy
Tonto (archive footage)
1968
Film
Brave Warrior
Chief Tecumseh
1952
Film
Red Mountain
Little Crow
1951
Film
The Battle at Apache Pass
Geronimo
1952
Film
Last of the Comanches
Indian (uncredited)
1953
Film
Valley of the Sun
Indian (uncredited)
1942
Film
Drums Across the River
Taos
1954
Film
Passage to Marseille
Sailor Crewman on Boat Deck (uncredited)
1944
Film
War Arrow
Satanta
1953
Film
Four Guns to the Border
Yaqui
1954
Film
The Feathered Serpent
Diego (uncredited)
1948
Film
Lost in a Harem
Guard at Execution (uncredited)
1944
Film
Tulsa
Creek Indian (uncredited)
1949
Film
Saskatchewan
Cajou
1954
Film
The Wild Blue Yonder
Benders
1951
Film
Fury at Furnace Creek
Little Dog (uncredited)
1948
Film
Yankee Buccaneer
Lead Warrior
1952
Film
Walk the Proud Land
Geronimo
1956
Film
The Western: A Lost TV Special
Self
1958
Film
One Little Indian
Jimmy Wolf
1973
Film
Northern Pursuit
Indian (uncredited)
1943
Film
Family Honeymoon
Elevator Boy (uncredited)
1948
Film
Smith!
McDonald Lasheway
1969
Film
Captain from Castile
Coatl (uncredited)
1947
Film
The Phynx
Tonto
1970
Film
Hudson's Bay
Indian (uncredited)
1940
Film
The Pathfinder
Chingachgook
1952
Film
The Prairie
Running Deer
1947
Film
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
Great Bear
1967
Film
This Woman Is Mine
Indian Marauder
1941
Film
The Cowboy and the Indians
Lakohna
1949
Film
Cat Ballou
Indian Chief
1971
Film
The Last Round-up
1947
Film
The Black Dakotas
Black Buffalo
1954
Film
Santee
John Crow
1973
Film
The Vanishing American
Beeteia
1955
Film
Kit Carson
Indian
1940
Film
Masterson of Kansas
Yellow Hawk
1954
Film
Too Many Girls
Indian (uncredited)
1940
Film
Texas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge
Natchez
1960
Film
The Legend Of The Lone Ranger
Tonto
1952
Film
The Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man
Tonto
2013
Film
Perils of Nyoka
Tuareg
1942
Film
Trail of the Yukon
Poleon
1949
Film
Lone Ranger: Lost Episodes
Tonto
2001
Film
The Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 60s and 70s
2002
Film
Gas House Kids Go West
Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited)
1947
Film
Indian Paint
Chief Hevatanu
1965
Film
The Nebraskan
Spotted Bear
1953
Film
Return to Warbow
Indian Joe
1958
Film
The Girl from Monterrey
Fighter Tito Flores
1943
Film
Laramie
Running Wolf (uncredited)
1949
Film
In Pursuit of Treasure
1972
Film
Tahiti Nights
Lua
1944
Film
Jack McCall, Desperado
Red Cloud
1953
Film
The Phantom
Astari Warrior (uncredited)
1943
Film
A Different Drum
Jim Swift Hands
I Am an American
Indian (uncredited)
1944
Film
Singin' Spurs
Abel
1948
Film
Sand
Indian (uncredited)
1949