Jack Elam
| Jack Elam | |
|---|---|
 Elam in Kansas City Confidential (1952) |
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| Born | William Scott Elam November 13, 1920 Miami, Arizona, United States |
| Died | October 20, 2003 (aged 82) Ashland, Oregon, United States |
| Resting place | Cremated |
| Years active | 1944–95 |
| Spouse(s) | Jean L Hodgert (1937–61; her death) Margaret Jennison (1961–2003; his death) |
William Scott "Jack" Elam (November 13, 1920[1] – October 20, 2003) was an American film actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies (sometimes spoofing his villainous image). His most distinguishing physical quality was that his left eye iris was skewed to the outside, making him look unnaturally "wide eyed" (the opposite of cross eyed).
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Early life [edit]
Elam was born in Miami, Arizona, to Millard Elam and Alice Amelia Kirby. Kirby died in 1924, when young Jack was not quite four years old. By 1930, he was once again living with his father, older sister Mildred, and their stepmother, Flossie (Varney).
He grew up picking cotton. He lost the sight in his left eye during a boyhood accident when he was stabbed with a pencil at a Boy Scout meeting.[2] He was a student of both Miami High School in Gila County and Phoenix Union High School in Maricopa County and graduated from the latter in the late 1930s.
He attended Santa Monica Junior College in California and subsequently became an accountant in Hollywood; one of his clients was movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn.[3] At one time, he was the manager of the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles.
Acting career [edit]
In 1949, Elam made his debut in She Shoulda Said No!, an exploitation film where a chorus girl's marijuana smoking ruins her career and drives her brother to suicide. He appeared mostly in westerns and gangster films playing villains. In 1961, Elam played a slightly crazed character in an episode of The Twilight Zone, "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?".
In 1963, he got a rare chance to play the good guy when he played the part of Deputy Marshal J.D. Smith in The Dakotas, a TV western that ran for only nineteen episodes. In 1968, he played perhaps his shortest role in Once Upon a Time in the West where he played a gunslinger sent to kill Charles Bronson's character. In that part, he had no speaking role, and spent a large part of the original scene playing with a fly he managed to catch in his gun barrel. He played an eccentric sidekick to John Wayne in Howard Hawks's Rio Lobo (1970). Elam was given his first comedic role in Support Your Local Sheriff!, after which he found his villainous assignments dwindling and his comic roles increasing.
In 1985 Elam played Charlie in The Aurora Encounter.[4] During this film Elam made a lifelong relationship with a 11-year-old boy named Mickey Hays, who suffered from progeria. As shown in the documentary I Am Not A Freak[5] viewers see how close Elam and Hays really were. Elam said, "You know I've met a lot of people, but I've never met anybody that got next to me like Mickey."
In 1994, Elam was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
Elam classified the stages of a moderately successful actor's life, as defined by the way a film director refers to the actor suggested for a part. (He said this on a George Plimpton ABC documentary about the making of Rio Lobo.) This humorous quote has also been attributed to other actors and writers, such as Harvey Miller, Ricardo Montalban, and Mary Astor:
- Stage 1: "Who is Jack Elam?"
- Stage 2: "Get me Jack Elam."
- Stage 3: "I want a Jack Elam type."
- Stage 4: "I want a younger Jack Elam."
- Stage 5: "Who is Jack Elam?"
Personal life and death [edit]
He was married twice (1, Jean Elam, from 1937 to her death in 1961; and 2, Margaret Jennison, from 1961 until his death in 2003), and had two daughters, Jeri Elam and Jacqueline Elam, and a son, Scott Elam. Elam died in Ashland, Oregon, of congestive heart failure.
Filmography [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Other sources cite 1916 and 1918. The year 1920 is stated on both his birth and death certificates. Arizona Certificate of Live Birth for William Scott Elam
- ^ Douglas Martin (October 23, 2003). "Jack Elam, Lazy-Eyed Movie Villain, Is Dead". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
- ^ Paul Wadey (October 23, 2003). "Jack Elam Archetypal villain in film and TV westerns". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
- ^ "The Aurora Encounter" (1986) at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
- ^ "I Am Not A Freak" (1987) at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
Further reading [edit]
- McCormack, Tiffany. Jack Elam in the Oregon Encyclopedia
- Mahar, Ted. (October 4, 1998) The Oregonian. A Sampling of Elams Movies. Page L10.
- 1920 November 13; Arizona Certificate of Live Birth for William Scott Elam
- 1920 United States Census, Arizona, Gila County, Miami
- 1924 September 7; Arizona Original Certificate of Death for Alice Amelia Kerby Elam
- 1930 United States Census, Arizona, Gila County, Miami
- 2003 October 20; Oregon Certificate of Death for Jack Elam
External links [edit]
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