Jay Silverheels

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Jay Silverheels
Jay-silverheels-01.png
Born Harold J. Smith
(1912-05-26)May 26, 1912[1]
Six Nations Indian Reserve, Brantford, Ontario, Canada[2]
Died March 5, 1980(1980-03-05) (aged 67)
Calabasas, California, USA
Occupation Actor
Years active 1937–1979
Spouse(s) Mary Diroma (m. 1946–1980)

Jay Silverheels (May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980)[1] was a Canadian Mohawk First Nations actor. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the faithful American Indian companion of the character, The Lone Ranger[3] in a long-running American television series.[4]

Contents

Early life [edit]

Silverheels was born Harold J. Smith on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, near Brantford, Ontario, Canada, the son of a Canadian Mohawk tribal chief and military officer,[5] A.G.E. Smith.[6][7] Silverheels excelled in athletics and lacrosse as a boy before leaving home to travel about North America, having competed in boxing and wrestling tournaments. In the 1930s, he played indoor lacrosse under the name of Harry Smith with the "Iroquois" of Rochester, New York in the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association.[8] He lived for a time in Buffalo, New York. In 1938, Silverheels placed second in the middleweight section of the Golden Gloves tournament.[9]

Film career [edit]

Silverheels began working in motion pictures as an extra and stunt man[10][11] in 1937.[6] 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.[12] He adopted his screen name from the nickname[13] he had had as a speedy[14] lacrosse player.[15] From the late 1940s he played in more prestigious pictures, including Captain from Castile starring Tyrone Power, I Am an American (1944),[16] 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. One of his last roles was a wise white-haired chief in The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973).

Television career [edit]

Silverheels achieved his greatest fame as the The Lone Ranger's friend, Tonto. Being irreplaceable as the Lone Ranger's best friend he subsequently also appeared in films, The Lone Ranger (1956) as well as in The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958).[17]

Following the end of The Lone Ranger television series, Silverheels found himself firmly typecast as an American Indian. On January 6, 1960, he portrayed an Indian fireman trying to extinguish a forest fire in the episode "Leap of Life" in the syndicated series, Rescue 8, starring Jim Davis and Lang Jeffries.[18]

Eventually, Silverheels went to work as a salesman to supplement his acting income.[19] Simultaneously, he began to publish poetry inspired by his youth on the Six Nations Indian Reserve and appeared on television to recite 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 in later years often poked fun at his character. In 1969, he appeared as Tonto without The Lone Ranger in a comedy sketch on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.[20] 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 performed in a commercial for Chevrolet as an Indian chief who rescues two lost hunters who ignored his advice in that model year's 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 television series.

He appeared in three episodes of NBC's Daniel Boone starring Fess Parker as the historical frontiersman.

Among his later appearances were an episode of ABC's The Brady Bunch, as an Indian chief who befriends the Bradys in the Grand Canyon, and in an episode of the short-lived Dusty's Trail, starring Bob Denver of Gilligan's Island.

In the early 1960s, Silverheels supported the Indian Actors Workshop,[21] as an institution where American Indian actors refine their acting skills[22] in Echo Park, California.[23] Today the workshop is firmly established.[24]

Personal life [edit]

Silverheels raised, bred and raced Standardbred horses in his spare time. Once, when asked about possibly running Tonto's famous Paint horse Scout in a race, Jay laughed off the idea: "Heck, I can outrun Scout!"[25]

Married in 1945, Silverheels was the father of three girls and a boy.[26]

Death [edit]

Silverheels died from complications of a stroke in 1980, at age 67, in Calabasas, California.[27] He was cremated at Chapel of the Pines Crematory. His ashes were returned home to Six Nations Indian Reserve.[28]

Legacy [edit]

Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6538 Hollywood Blvd.

In 1993, Silverheels was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers 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.

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Official website, Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Canadian First Nations League of Nations http://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.ca/jsilverheels.html
  2. ^ "Birthplace: Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  3. ^ "His job in Hollywood was to help his partner, "The Lone Ranger" stop the devious plots of hardened outlaws.". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  4. ^ "Silverheels played the role during the entire period from 1949 to 1957, even when Clayton Moore was replaced one season by John Hart". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  5. ^ {{Cite we b|url= http://www.lonerangerfanclub.com/jaysilverheels.html |title= His father, Major George Smith, was the most decorated Native Canadian soldier in World War I. |accessdate = 2011-11-21 }}
  6. ^ a b Quinlan, David (1985), Quinlan's Illustrated Directory of Film Character Actors (1995 revised ed.), Great Britain: The Bath Press, p. 319, ISBN 0-87000-412-3 
  7. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/77/Jay-Silverheels.html
  8. ^ "In the 1930s he played lacrosse with the Rochester, NY "Iroquois" of the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  9. ^ "He finished second in the Eastern Square finals of the Golden Gloves boxing championshipin Madison Square Garden.". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  10. ^ "Silverheels, an accomplished boxer, wrestler and lacrosse player, capitalized on this athletic prowess to break into the movie business, starting as a stuntman and extra". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  11. ^ "He worked as a stuntman and extra before landing some bit parts in the early 1940s, almost always credited as simply "Indian" or "Indian Brave".". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  12. ^ "he was in four serials at Republic when he was still going by Harry Smith, before he changed his name". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  13. ^ "Changing his name to Jay Smith Silverheels, partly a nickname from his uncle due to his superb running style". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  14. ^ "he became noted for the white running shoes he wore. He was so swift that his feet were streaks". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  15. ^ The Rise and Fall of Jay Silverheels @WFMU
  16. ^ The 16 minute film, I Am an American, was featured in American theaters as a short feature in connection with "I Am an American Day" (now called Constitution Day). I Am an American was produced by Gordon Hollingshead, written and directed by Crane Wilbur, and featured Humphrey Bogart, Gary Gray, Gordon Hart, Dick Haymes, Danny Kaye, Joan Leslie, Mary Lee Moody, Dennis Morgan, Knute Rockne, and Jay Silverheels. See: I Am An American at the TCM Movie Database and I Am an American at the Internet Movie Database.
  17. ^ "In addition to starring in [[The Lone Ranger (TV series)|The Lone Ranger]] television series from 1949 to 1957, Silverheels appeared in the films The Lone Ranger and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold.". Retrieved 2011-11-21.  Wikilink embedded in URL title (help)
  18. ^ "Leap of Life, [[Rescue 8]], January 6, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved January 29, 2013.  Wikilink embedded in URL title (help)
  19. ^ "with his career no longer sufficient to support his family, he began working as a salesman.". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  20. ^ "Silverheels as "Tonto" in Jimmy Carson's Late Night Show (film)". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  21. ^ "Silverheels was a spokesperson for Indian actors and in 1963 founded the Indian Actors Workshop.". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  22. ^ "He founded the Indian Actors' Workshop in 1966 with Will Sampson and offered free classes for Native Americans". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  23. ^ "He formed the Indian Actors Workshop in Echo Park in the late 1960s". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  24. ^ "He later went on to found the Indian Actors Workshop, a project to which he devoted enormous amounts of time and resources. It still operates today.". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  25. ^ "In the 70's he became a harness racing driver and bred horses.". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  26. ^ "married, wife's name: Mary; children: Marilyn, Pamela, Karen, Jay Anthony". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  27. ^ "Jay Silverheels suffered a stroke in 1974 and passed away on March 5, 1980 after several years of ill health". Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  28. ^ "Jay Silverheels". Retrieved 2008-02-23. 

External links [edit]

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jay_Silverheels&oldid=554414555"