Jay Silverheels was born on Canada's Six Nation's Reserve and was one of 10 children. 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 through the 1940s before gaining notice as the Osceola brother in a Humphrey Bogart film Key Largo (1948). Most of Silverheels' roles consisted...
Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Height
6' (1.83 m)
Profession
Actor
Nationality
Canadian
Spouse
Mary Diroma, Bobbie Smith
Children
Jay Silverheels Jr.
Parents
A.G.E. Smith
Movies
The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold, Broken Arrow, The Cowboy and the Indians, Walk the Proud Land, War Arrow, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, The Battle at Apache Pass, Santee, The Black Dakotas, One Little Indian, The Pathfinder, Four Guns to the Border, The Girl from Monterrey, Saskatchewan,...
TV Shows
The Lone Ranger
Star Sign
Gemini
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Quote
1
[re his lacrosse days] I was so scared, I was weak. I'd walk out on the floor shaking, thinking I can't do it, I can't, I can't. Then the whistle would blow, and I'd play in a fury. Happened every time.
2
[re his signature character] He's stupid. The Lone Ranger treats him like some kind of servant, and this seems to suit Tonto fine.
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Fact
1
While filming The Lone Ranger (1949) in 1955, he suffered a heart attack. He didn't appear on the show for eight weeks while he recuperated. Stuntman Chuck Courtney, as the Lone Ranger's nephew Dan Reid, replaced him until he was well enough to return;.
2
Reportedly beat out 35 other actors to win the Tonto role in the initial radio version of "The Lone Ranger", which he had been invited to audition for based on his appearance in Key Largo (1948).
3
Was said to have "despised" his show-business portrayal of an Indian.
4
Adopted the nickname 'Silverheels" during a very brief boxing career, which saw him compete as a middleweight in a Golden Gloves bout in New York City's Madison Square Garden.
5
Resided in Canoga Park, CA, and used to take walks around his neighborhood. Daughter attended and graduated from Canoga Park High School.
Was an avid horse-racer when not acting. When asked if he ever thought about running Silver or Scout (who portrayed the steeds of the Lone Ranger and Tonto, respectively) in a race, Silverheels laughed: "Heck, *I* can beat Scout."
10
Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1993.
11
U.S. government records give Silverheels' birthdate as 26 June 1912, though virtually all cinema reference works disagree, giving instead the 1919 date listed here.
- Love and the Bachelor Party/Love and the Latin Lover/Love and the Old-Fashioned Father/Love and the Test of Manhood 1972 ... segment "Love and the Test of Manhood"
In Pursuit of Treasure
1972
Cade's County
1971
TV Series
Chief Wild Horse
The Brady Bunch
1971
TV Series
Chief Eagle Cloud
Cat Ballou
1971/II
TV Movie
Indian Chief
The Psychiatrist
1971
TV Series
Medicine Man
The Virginian
1968-1971
TV Series
Spotted Hand / Den'Gwatzi
The Phynx
1970
Tonto
True Grit
1969
Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
Smith!
1969
McDonald Lasheway
Gentle Ben
1967
TV Series
Willie Sam Gopher
Pistols 'n' Petticoats
1966-1967
TV Series
Great Bear
The Rounders
1966
TV Series
John Tallgrass
Daniel Boone
1964-1965
TV Series
Sashona / Latawa / Chenrogan
Indian Paint
1965
Chief Hevatanu
Branded
1965
TV Series
Wild Horse
Laramie
1962
TV Series
Toma
Rawhide
1961
TV Series
Pawnee Joe
Frontier Circus
1961
TV Series
Chief Red Cloud
Gunslinger
1961
TV Series
Hopi Indian
Wagon Train
1961
TV Series
The Serpent
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
1960
TV Series
Natchez
Rescue 8
1960
TV Series
Charlie
Wanted: Dead or Alive
1959
TV Series
Charley Red Cloud
Alias Jesse James
1959
Tonto (uncredited)
The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold
1958
Tonto
Return to Warbow
1958
Indian Joe
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1969
TV Series
Himself
Wide Wide World
1958
TV Series documentary
Himself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Pioneers of Television
2014
TV Mini-Series documentary
Tonto - the Lone Ranger
Kemosabe Version 1.0
2007
Short
Tonto
The Canadians
2000
TV Series
Tonto
The Stan Freberg Commercials
1999
Video
Tonto (segment "Show Us Your Pizza Roll Pack")
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999
Video documentary
Tonto
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1992
TV Series
Himself
The Visionary
1990
Video
Medicine Man
Action Heroes of Movies & T.V.: A Campy Compilation