Jay Silverheels

Personal Info

Birthday

May 26, 1912

Day of Death

1980-03-05

(67 years old)

Place of Birth

Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada

Also Known As

Harold J. Smith

Harry Silversmith

Harry Smith

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.

Known For

The Virginian

Rawhide

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Daniel Boone

The Lone Ranger

True Grit

Broken Arrow

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Filmography

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