Jay Silverheels
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.
TV Shows(11)
Cannon
1971
The Brady Bunch
1969
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
1966
Branded
1965
Daniel Boone
Sashona
1964
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1962
The Virginian
Den'Gwatzi
1962
Gunslinger
Hopi Indian
1961
Rawhide
Pawnee Joe
1959
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Charley Red Cloud
1958
The Lone Ranger
Tonto
1949
Movies(72)
The Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man
Tonto
2013
The Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 60s and 70s
2002
Lone Ranger: Lost Episodes
Tonto
2001
Santee
John Crow
1973
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
The Chief
1973
One Little Indian
Jimmy Wolf
1973
In Pursuit of Treasure
1972
Cat Ballou
Indian Chief
1971
The Phynx
Tonto
1970
True Grit
Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
1969
Smith!
McDonald Lasheway
1969
The Movie Orgy
Tonto (archive footage)
1968
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
Great Bear
1967
Indian Paint
Chief Hevatanu
1965
Texas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge
Natchez
1960
Alias Jesse James
Tonto (uncredited)
1959
The Western: A Lost TV Special
Self
1958
The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold
Tonto
1958
Return to Warbow
Indian Joe
1958
Walk the Proud Land
Geronimo
1956
The Lone Ranger
Tonto
1956
The Vanishing American
Beeteia
1955
Masterson of Kansas
Yellow Hawk
1954
Four Guns to the Border
Yaqui
1954
The Black Dakotas
Black Buffalo
1954
Drums Across the River
Taos
1954
Saskatchewan
Cajou
1954
War Arrow
Satanta
1953
The Nebraskan
Spotted Bear
1953
Jack McCall, Desperado
Red Cloud
1953
Last of the Comanches
Indian (uncredited)
1953
The Pathfinder
Chingachgook
1952
Yankee Buccaneer
Lead Warrior
1952
Brave Warrior
Chief Tecumseh
1952
The Battle at Apache Pass
Geronimo
1952
The Half-Breed
Apache (uncredited)
1952
The Legend Of The Lone Ranger
Tonto
1952
The Wild Blue Yonder
Benders
1951
Red Mountain
Little Crow
1951
Broken Arrow
Geronimo (uncredited)
1950
The Cowboy and the Indians
Lakohna
1949
Sand
Indian (uncredited)
1949
Trail of the Yukon
Poleon
1949
Lust for Gold
Walter
1949
Laramie
Running Wolf (uncredited)
1949
Tulsa
Creek Indian (uncredited)
1949
Yellow Sky
Indian (uncredited)
1948
The Feathered Serpent
Diego (uncredited)
1948
Family Honeymoon
Elevator Boy (uncredited)
1948
Singin' Spurs
Abel
1948
Key Largo
Tom Osceola (uncredited)
1948
Fury at Furnace Creek
Little Dog (uncredited)
1948
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)
1948
Captain from Castile
Coatl (uncredited)
1947
The Prairie
Running Deer
1947
The Last Round-up
1947
Gas House Kids Go West
Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited)
1947
Tahiti Nights
Lua
1944
I Am an American
Indian (uncredited)
1944
Lost in a Harem
Guard at Execution (uncredited)
1944
The Phantom
Astari Warrior (uncredited)
1943
Northern Pursuit
Indian (uncredited)
1943
The Girl from Monterrey
Fighter Tito Flores
1943
Perils of Nyoka
Tuareg
1942
Valley of the Sun
Indian (uncredited)
1942
This Woman Is Mine
Indian Marauder
1941
Western Union
Indian
1941
Hudson's Bay
Indian (uncredited)
1940
Too Many Girls
Indian
1940
Kit Carson
Indian
1940
The Sea Hawk
Native Lookout
1940
A Different Drum
Jim Swift Hands