Acting · Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada · Born May 26, 1912
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. It was later that same year that Jay would be hired to play the faithful Indian companion, Tonto, in the television series "The Lone Ranger" (1949). This role, while still playing the "Indian," would bring Jay the fame that his motion picture career never did. As Tonto, on his horse Scout, Jay could show up where the Ranger could not and some of the time he would be shot at or beat up for his trouble. Jay would play Tonto in all the episodes except for those that he missed when he had his heart attack. In those episodes, he was replaced by the Ranger's nephew, Dan. However, Clayton Moore would miss the third season when he was replaced by John Hart. Jay would reprise the role of Tonto in two big-screen color movies with Moore, The Lone Ranger (1956) and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958). After the series ended in 1957, Jay could not escape the typecasting of Tonto. He would continue to appear in an occasional film and television show, but he would become a spokesman to improve the portrayal of Indians on TV.
MovieThe Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man
2013
as Tonto
MovieThe Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 60s and 70s
2002
MovieLone Ranger: Lost Episodes
2001
as Tonto
MovieSantee
1973
as John Crow
MovieThe Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
1973
as The Chief
MovieOne Little Indian
1973
as Jimmy Wolf
MovieIn Pursuit of Treasure
1972
TVCannon
1971
MovieCat Ballou
1971
as Indian Chief
MovieThe Phynx
1970
as Tonto
TVThe Brady Bunch
1969
as Chief Eagle Cloud
MovieTrue Grit
1969
as Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
MovieSmith!
1969
as McDonald Lasheway
MovieThe Movie Orgy
1968
as Tonto (archive footage)
MoviePistols 'n' Petticoats
1967
as Great Bear
TVPistols 'n' Petticoats
1966
MovieIndian Paint
1965
as Chief Hevatanu
TVBranded
1965
TVDaniel Boone
1964
as Sashona
TVThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
TVThe Virginian
1962
as Den'Gwatzi
TVGunslinger
1961
as Hopi Indian
MovieTexas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge
1960
as Natchez
MovieAlias Jesse James
1959
as Tonto (uncredited)
TVRawhide
1959
as Pawnee Joe
TVWanted: Dead or Alive
1958
as Charley Red Cloud
MovieThe Western: A Lost TV Special
1958
as Self
MovieThe Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold
1958
as Tonto
MovieReturn to Warbow
1958
as Indian Joe
MovieWalk the Proud Land
1956
as Geronimo
MovieThe Lone Ranger
1956
as Tonto
MovieThe Vanishing American
1955
as Beeteia
MovieMasterson of Kansas
1954
as Yellow Hawk
MovieFour Guns to the Border
1954
as Yaqui
MovieThe Black Dakotas
1954
as Black Buffalo
MovieDrums Across the River
1954
as Taos
MovieSaskatchewan
1954
as Cajou
MovieWar Arrow
1953
as Satanta
MovieThe Nebraskan
1953
as Spotted Bear
MovieJack McCall, Desperado
1953
as Red Cloud
MovieLast of the Comanches
1953
as Indian (uncredited)
MovieThe Pathfinder
1952
as Chingachgook
MovieYankee Buccaneer
1952
as Lead Warrior
MovieBrave Warrior
1952
as Chief Tecumseh
MovieThe Battle at Apache Pass
1952
as Geronimo
MovieThe Half-Breed
1952
as Apache (uncredited)
MovieThe Legend Of The Lone Ranger
1952
as Tonto
MovieThe Wild Blue Yonder
1951
as Benders
MovieRed Mountain
1951
as Little Crow
MovieBroken Arrow
1950
as Geronimo (uncredited)
MovieThe Cowboy and the Indians
1949
as Lakohna
TVThe Lone Ranger
1949
as Tonto
MovieSand
1949
as Indian (uncredited)
MovieTrail of the Yukon
1949
as Poleon
MovieLust for Gold
1949
as Walter
MovieLaramie
1949
as Running Wolf (uncredited)
MovieTulsa
1949
as Creek Indian (uncredited)
MovieYellow Sky
1948
as Indian (uncredited)
MovieThe Feathered Serpent
1948
as Diego (uncredited)
MovieFamily Honeymoon
1948
as Elevator Boy (uncredited)
MovieSingin' Spurs
1948
as Abel
MovieKey Largo
1948
as Tom Osceola (uncredited)
MovieFury at Furnace Creek
1948
as Little Dog (uncredited)
MovieThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre
1948
as Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)
MovieCaptain from Castile
1947
as Coatl (uncredited)
MovieThe Prairie
1947
as Running Deer
MovieThe Last Round-up
1947
MovieGas House Kids Go West
1947
as Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited)
MovieTahiti Nights
1944
as Lua
I Am an American
1944
as Indian (uncredited)
MovieLost in a Harem
1944
as Guard at Execution (uncredited)
MovieThe Phantom
1943
as Astari Warrior (uncredited)
MovieNorthern Pursuit
1943
as Indian (uncredited)
MovieThe Girl from Monterrey
1943
as Fighter Tito Flores
MoviePerils of Nyoka
1942
as Tuareg
MovieValley of the Sun
1942
as Indian (uncredited)
MovieThis Woman Is Mine
1941
as Indian Marauder
MovieWestern Union
1941
as Indian
MovieHudson's Bay
1940
as Indian (uncredited)
MovieToo Many Girls
1940
as Indian (uncredited)
MovieKit Carson
1940
as Indian
MovieThe Sea Hawk
1940
as Native Lookout
MovieA Different Drum
as Jim Swift Hands
