Jay Silverheels
Encyclopedia
Jay Silverheels was a Canadian Mohawk First Nations
actor. He was well known for his role as Tonto
, the faithful American Indian
companion of the Lone Ranger
in a long-running American television series.
, Canada, the son of a Canadian Mohawk Chief
and military officer, A. G. E. Smith. Silverheels excelled in athletics and lacrosse
as a boy before leaving home to travel around North America, competing in boxing and wrestling tournaments. In the 1930s he played indoor lacrosse under the name of Harry Smith with the Rochester, NY "Iroquois" of the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association. He lived for a time in Buffalo, New York
. In 1938 Silverheels placed second in the middleweight section of the Golden Gloves
tournament.
and stunt man
in 1937. During the early years of his screen career, he was billed variously as Harold Smith or Harry Smith, and appeared in low-budget features, westerns, and serials. He adopted his screen name from the nickname he had had as a speedy lacrosse player. From the late 1940s he played in more prestigious pictures, including Captain from Castile
starring Tyrone Power
, Key Largo
with Humphrey Bogart
, (1948), Lust for Gold
with Glenn Ford
(1949), Broken Arrow
(1950
) with James Stewart
, War Arrow
(1953
) with Maureen O'Hara
, Jeff Chandler
and Noah Beery, Jr.
, Drums Across the River (1954), Walk the Proud Land
(1956
) with Audie Murphy
and Anne Bancroft
, Alias Jesse James
(1959) with Bob Hope
, and Indian Paint (1964
) with Johnny Crawford
. He made a brief appearance in True Grit (1969) as a condemned criminal about to be executed. He played a substantial role as John Crow in Santee
(1973), starring Glenn Ford
.
friend Tonto
. Being irreplaceable as the Lone Ranger's best friend he subsequently also appeared in The Lone Ranger (1956) as well as in The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958).
Following the end of the Lone Ranger television series, Silverheels found himself firmly typecast as an American Indian hero. Eventually Silverheels had to work as a salesman to supplement his acting income. Simultaneously he began to publish poetry inspired by his youth on the Six Nations Indian Reserve and appeared on television reciting his works. In 1966, he guest-starred as John Tallgrass in the short-lived ABC
comedy/western series The Rounders
, with Ron Hayes
, Patrick Wayne
, and Chill Wills
.
Despite the typecasting, Silverheels often poked fun at his character in later years. In 1969, he appeared as Tonto in a comedy sketch on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, seeking new employment away from the Lone Ranger. The sketch was featured on the 1973 record album Here's Johnny: Magic Moments From The Tonight Show. "My name is Tonto. I hail from Toronto and I speak Esperanto
." In 1970 he appeared in a commercial for Chevrolet as an Indian chief who rescues two lost hunters who ignored his advice in that model years Chevy Blazer with the William Tell Overture
playing in the background.
Silverheels also spoofed his Tonto character in a famous Stan Freberg
Jeno's Pizza Rolls TV commercial opposite Clayton Moore
, as well as in The Phynx
, opposite John Hart
, both actors having played The Lone Ranger in the original TV series.
He appeared in three episodes of Daniel Boone
starring Fess Parker
as the titular historical frontiersman.
Among his later appearances were an episode of The Brady Bunch
, as an Indian chief who befriends the Bradys in the Grand Canyon
, and an episode of the short-lived Dusty's Trail
, starring Bob Denver
of Gilligan's Island
fame. (In the Brady Bunch episode, Alice makes a joke about meeting Tonto, before the Bradys meet Silverheels's character.)
In the early 1960s, Silverheels supported the Indian Actors Workshop as an institution where American Indian actors refine their acting skills. in Echo Park, California. Today the workshop is firmly established.
Scout in a race, Jay laughed off the idea: "Heck, I can outrun Scout!"
Married in 1945, Silverheels was the father of two boys and a girl.
. He was cremated at Chapel of the Pines Crematory
. His ashes were returned home to Six Nations Indian Reserve.
He had had his final great appearance when he was awarded a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
. He was named to the Western New York Entertainment Hall of Fame, and his portrait hangs in Buffalo, New York
's Shea's Buffalo Theatre. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6538 Hollywood Boulevard
.
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
actor. He was well known for his role as Tonto
Tonto
Tonto may mean:* Tonto, a band of Apache native Americans.* Tonto, the fictional sidekick to the Lone Ranger.* "Tonto", a song by the American math rock band Battles, from their album Mirrored.** "Tonto+", the EP centered around said song....
, the faithful American Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
companion of the Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
in a long-running American television series.
Early life
Silverheels was born Harold J. Smith on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, near Brantford, OntarioBrantford, Ontario
Brantford is a city located on the Grand River in Southern Ontario, Canada. While geographically surrounded by the County of Brant, the city is politically independent...
, Canada, the son of a Canadian Mohawk Chief
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
and military officer, A. G. E. Smith. Silverheels excelled in athletics and lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
as a boy before leaving home to travel around North America, competing in boxing and wrestling tournaments. In the 1930s he played indoor lacrosse under the name of Harry Smith with the Rochester, NY "Iroquois" of the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association. He lived for a time in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. In 1938 Silverheels placed second in the middleweight section of the Golden Gloves
Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States. The Golden Gloves is often the term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but it also can represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional golden gloves...
tournament.
Film career
Silverheels began working in motion pictures as an extraExtra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
and stunt man
Stunt performer
A stuntman, or daredevil is someone who performs dangerous stunts, often as a career.These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be...
in 1937. During the early years of his screen career, he was billed variously as Harold Smith or Harry Smith, and appeared in low-budget features, westerns, and serials. He adopted his screen name from the nickname he had had as a speedy lacrosse player. From the late 1940s he played in more prestigious pictures, including Captain from Castile
Captain from Castile
Captain from Castile is an action historical drama and swashbuckler film released by 20th Century Fox in 1947. Directed by Henry King, the Technicolor film starred Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, and Cesar Romero. Shot on location in Michoacán, Mexico, the film includes scenes of the Parícutin...
starring Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
, Key Largo
Key Largo (film)
Key Largo is a 1948 film noir directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, and Claire Trevor...
with Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, (1948), Lust for Gold
Lust for Gold
Lust for Gold is a 1949 western film about the legendary Lost Dutchman gold mine, starring Glenn Ford as the "Dutchman" and Ida Lupino as the woman he loves. It was based on the book Thunder God's Gold by Barry Storm...
with Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
(1949), Broken Arrow
Broken Arrow (1950 film)
Broken Arrow is a western Technicolor film released in 1950. It was directed by Delmer Daves and starred James Stewart and Jeff Chandler. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, and won a Golden Globe award for Best Film Promoting International Understanding. It made history as the first...
(1950
1950 in film
The year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
) with James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
, War Arrow
War Arrow
War Arrow is a 1953 western film directed by George Sherman and starring Jeff Chandler and Maureen O'Hara.-Plot synopsis:Major Howell Brady , a cavalry officer, is sent to Fort Clark, Texas, to subdue a Kiowa uprising that has been raiding villages on Seminole reservations...
(1953
1953 in film
The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
) with Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne...
, Jeff Chandler
Jeff Chandler (actor)
Jeff Chandler was an American film actor and singer in the 1950s.-Early life:Chandler was born Ira Grossel to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Anna and Phillip Grossel. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, the alma mater of many stage and film personalities...
and Noah Beery, Jr.
Noah Beery, Jr.
Noah Lindsey Beery , known professionally as Noah Beery, Jr. or just Noah Beery, was an American actor specializing in warm, friendly character parts similar to the ones played by his uncle Wallace Beery, although Noah Beery, Jr., unlike his uncle, seldom broke away from playing supporting...
, Drums Across the River (1954), Walk the Proud Land
Walk the Proud Land
Walk the Proud Land is a 1956 Western Technicolor CinemaScope film directed by Jesse Hibbs, starring Audie Murphy and future Academy Award winner Anne Bancroft. It was filmed at Old Tucson.-Plot:...
(1956
1956 in film
The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
) with Audie Murphy
Audie Murphy
Audie Leon Murphy was a highly decorated and famous soldier. Through LIFE magazine's July 16, 1945 issue , he became one the most famous soldiers of World War II and widely regarded as the most decorated American soldier of the war...
and Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft was an American actress associated with the Method acting school, which she had studied under Lee Strasberg....
, Alias Jesse James
Alias Jesse James
Alias Jesse James is a Bob Hope western comedy movie. A highlight for fans of Westerns of that era happens during the gun fight climax at the end of the movie that features a number of cameos by movie and television personalities Alias Jesse James (1959) is a Bob Hope western comedy movie. A...
(1959) with Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, and Indian Paint (1964
1964 in film
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
) with Johnny Crawford
Johnny Crawford
John Ernest "Johnny" Crawford is a prolific American character actor, singer and musician. At 12, Crawford rose to fame for playing Mark McCain, the son of the Lucas McCain character , in the popular 1960s ABC western series, The Rifleman, which aired from 1958 to 1963...
. He made a brief appearance in True Grit (1969) as a condemned criminal about to be executed. He played a substantial role as John Crow in Santee
Santee (film)
----Santee 1973 is a Western movie, starring Glenn Ford and directed by Gary Nelson.- Plot :Jody Deakes joins up with his father after many years, just to discover that his dad is part of an outlaw gang on the run from a relentless bounty hunter named Santee...
(1973), starring Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
.
TV career
Silverheels achieved his greatest fame as the Lone Ranger'sThe Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
friend Tonto
Tonto (Lone Ranger character)
Tonto is a fictional character, the Native American companion of The Lone Ranger, a popular American Western character created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker...
. Being irreplaceable as the Lone Ranger's best friend he subsequently also appeared in The Lone Ranger (1956) as well as in The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958).
Following the end of the Lone Ranger television series, Silverheels found himself firmly typecast as an American Indian hero. Eventually Silverheels had to work as a salesman to supplement his acting income. Simultaneously he began to publish poetry inspired by his youth on the Six Nations Indian Reserve and appeared on television reciting his works. In 1966, he guest-starred as John Tallgrass in the short-lived ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
comedy/western series The Rounders
The Rounders (TV series)
The Rounders is a 17-episode western-style situation comedy about two cowboys on the fictitious J.L. Ranch in Texas, starring Ron Hayes , as Ben Jones and Patrick Wayne , a son of John Wayne, as Howdy Lewis. The M-G-M television series aired on ABC from September 6, 1966, to January 3, 1967...
, with Ron Hayes
Ron Hayes
Ronald G. Hayes was an American television actor who, as an activist in the environmental movement, worked for the establishment of the first Earth Day, observed on April 22, 1970. He was a member of the Sierra Club and a founder of the ecological interest group Wilderness World...
, Patrick Wayne
Patrick Wayne
Patrick John Morrison, better known by his stage name Patrick Wayne , is an American actor, the second son of movie star John Wayne and his first wife, Josephine Alicia Saenz. He made over 40 films in his career, including nine with his father...
, and Chill Wills
Chill Wills
Chill Theodore Wills was an American film actor, and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet.-Biography:Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas in 1902. He was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading the Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s...
.
Despite the typecasting, Silverheels often poked fun at his character in later years. In 1969, he appeared as Tonto in a comedy sketch on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, seeking new employment away from the Lone Ranger. The sketch was featured on the 1973 record album Here's Johnny: Magic Moments From The Tonight Show. "My name is Tonto. I hail from Toronto and I speak Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
." In 1970 he appeared in a commercial for Chevrolet as an Indian chief who rescues two lost hunters who ignored his advice in that model years Chevy Blazer with the William Tell Overture
William Tell Overture
The William Tell Overture is the instrumental introduction to the opera Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Rossini. William Tell premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he went into semi-retirement, although he continued to compose cantatas, sacred music and secular vocal...
playing in the background.
Silverheels also spoofed his Tonto character in a famous Stan Freberg
Stan Freberg
Stanley Victor "Stan" Freberg is an American author, recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer, and advertising creative director whose career began in 1944...
Jeno's Pizza Rolls TV commercial opposite Clayton Moore
Clayton Moore
Clayton Moore was an American actor best known for playing the fictional western character The Lone Ranger from 1949–1951 and 1954-1957 on the television series of the same name.-Early years:...
, as well as in The Phynx
The Phynx
The Phynx is a 1970 comedy film directed by Lee H. Katzin about a rock and roll band named The Phynx and their mission in foreign affairs. The group is sent to the country of Albania to locate hostages.-Cast:*The Phynx... Themselves...
, opposite John Hart
John Hart (actor)
John Hart was an American motion picture and television actor, born in Los Angeles, California. In his early career, he appeared mostly in Westerns...
, both actors having played The Lone Ranger in the original TV series.
He appeared in three episodes of Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone (TV series)
Daniel Boone is an American action/adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Native American friend, for the...
starring Fess Parker
Fess Parker
Fess Elisha Parker, Jr. was an American film and television actor best known for his portrayals of Davy Crockett in the Walt Disney 1955-56 TV mini-series and as TV's Daniel Boone from 1964-70...
as the titular historical frontiersman.
Among his later appearances were an episode of The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
, as an Indian chief who befriends the Bradys in the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
, and an episode of the short-lived Dusty's Trail
Dusty's Trail
Dusty's Trail is an American Western/comedy series that aired in syndication from September 1973 to March 1974. The series is set in the 19th century about a small group of travelers separated from their wagon train who become lost. Dusty's Trail stars Bob Denver as "Dusty" Boots, the assistant to...
, starring Bob Denver
Bob Denver
Robert Osbourne "Bob" Denver was an American comedic actor known for his roles as Gilligan on the television series Gilligan's Island and the beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 TV series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.-Early life:Denver was born in New Rochelle, New York, and raised in...
of Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...
fame. (In the Brady Bunch episode, Alice makes a joke about meeting Tonto, before the Bradys meet Silverheels's character.)
In the early 1960s, Silverheels supported the Indian Actors Workshop as an institution where American Indian actors refine their acting skills. in Echo Park, California. Today the workshop is firmly established.
Personal life
Silverheels raised, bred and raced horses in his spare time. Once, when asked about possibly running Tonto's famous Pinto horsePinto horse
A pinto horse has a coat color that consists of large patches of white and any other color. The distinction between "pinto" and "solid" can be tenuous, as so-called "solid" horses frequently have areas of white hair. Various cultures throughout history appear to have selectively bred for pinto...
Scout in a race, Jay laughed off the idea: "Heck, I can outrun Scout!"
Married in 1945, Silverheels was the father of two boys and a girl.
Death
Jay Silverheels died from complications of a stroke in 1980, at age 67, in Calabasas, CaliforniaCalabasas, California
Calabasas is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California in the western United States. It is located in the hills in the southwestern San Fernando Valley and the Santa Monica Mountains between Woodland Hills, Agoura Hills, West Hills, and Malibu, California. As of the 2010 census, the city...
. He was cremated at Chapel of the Pines Crematory
Chapel of the Pines Crematory
Chapel of the Pines Crematory is a crematory and columbarium located at 1605 South Catalina Street Los Angeles, California, in the historic West Adams District a short distance southwest of Downtown...
. His ashes were returned home to Six Nations Indian Reserve.
He had had his final great appearance when he was awarded a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Legacy
In 1993, Silverheels was inducted into the Hall of Great Western PerformersHall of Great Western Performers
The Hall of Great Western Performers is a Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A. It is sometimes referred to as the "Western Performers Hall of Fame"...
at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of American rodeo, photographs, barbed wire, saddlery, and early rodeo trophies...
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
. He was named to the Western New York Entertainment Hall of Fame, and his portrait hangs in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
's Shea's Buffalo Theatre. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6538 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
.
See also
- Canadian pioneers in early HollywoodCanadian pioneers in early HollywoodMotion pictures have been a part of the culture of Canada since the beginning.-History:Around 1910, the East Coast filmmakers began to take advantage of California winters and after Nestor Studios, run by Canadian Al Christie, built the first permanent movie studio in Hollywood a number of the...
- Lamparski, Richard (1970). Whatever Became Of...? Vol. 3, Ace Books, New York.
External links
- The Rise and Fall of Jay Silverheels @WFMU
- Jay Silverheels tribute site
- Biographical Information
- Screen Legends
- Western Stars Quick Quiz on Jay Silverheels