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