Acting · Miami, Gila, Arizona, USA · Born November 13, 1920
Colorful American character actor equally adept at vicious killers or grizzled sidekicks. As a child he worked in the cotton fields. He attended Santa Monica Junior College in California and subsequently became an accountant and, at one time, manager of the Bel Air Hotel. Elam got his first movie job by trading his accounting services for a role. In short time he became one of the most memorable supporting players in Hollywood, thanks not only to his near-demented screen persona but also to an out-of-kilter left eye, sightless from a childhood fight. He appeared with great aplomb in Westerns and gangster films alike, and in later years played to wonderful effect in comedic roles.
MovieBig Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
1997
as Self
MovieBonanza: Under Attack
1995
as Buckshot
MovieBonanza: The Return
1993
as Buckshot
MovieUninvited
1993
as Grady
MovieShadow Force
1992
as Tommy
TVLucky Luke
1992
as Axel Ericson
MovieSuburban Commando
1991
as Col. Dustin 'Dusty' McHowell
TVHome Improvement
1991
as Hick Peterson
MovieThe Giant of Thunder Mountain
1990
as Hezekiah Crow
MovieBig Bad John
1990
as Jake Calhoun
MovieWhere the Hell's That Gold?!!?
1988
as Boone
TVParadise
1988
as Skragg
MovieOnce Upon a Texas Train
1988
as Jason Fitch
MovieI Am Not a Freak
1987
as Self
TVJ.J. Starbuck
1987
MovieHawken's Breed
1987
as Tackett
MovieLouis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills
1986
as Squires
TVEasy Street
1986
MovieThe Aurora Encounter
1986
as Charlie
Detective in the House
1985
MovieScrooge's Rock 'N' Roll Christmas
1984
as Scrooge
MovieCannonball Run II
1984
as Doc
MovieLost
1983
as Mr. Newsom
MovieSacred Ground
1983
as Lum Witcher
MovieJinxed!
1982
as Otto
MovieSkyward Christmas
1981
as Clay Haller
TVSimon & Simon
1981
TVFather Murphy
1981
MovieSoggy Bottom, U.S.A.
1981
as Troscliar Boudreaux
MovieThe Cannonball Run
1981
as Doctor
MovieThe Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite
1981
as Seth Beaumont
TVStruck by Lightning
1979
as Frank
MovieThe Villain
1979
as Avery Simpson
MovieThe Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again
1979
as Big Mac
TVThe Sacketts
1979
as Ira Bigelow
$weepstake$
1979
MovieThe Norseman
1978
as Death Dreamer
MovieHot Lead & Cold Feet
1978
as Rattlesnake
MovieLacy and the Mississippi Queen
1978
as Willie Red Fire
MovieHuckleberry Finn
1978
as King
TVBlack Beauty
1978
as Jonas McBride
MovieGrayeagle
1977
as Trapper Willis
TVEight Is Enough
1977
TVGrizzly Adams
1977
as Gus
TVHow the West Was Won
1977
as Cully Madigan
MoviePony Express Rider
1976
as Crazy Charlie
MovieThe Winds of Autumn
1976
as J. Pete Hankins
MovieThe New Daughters of Joshua Cabe
1976
as Bitterroot
MovieHawmps!
1976
as Bad Jack Cutter
MovieCreature from Black Lake
1976
as Joe Canton
MovieA Knife for the Ladies
1974
as Jarrod (Sheriff)
MovieSidekicks
1974
as Boss
MovieShootout in a One-Dog Town
1974
as Handy
MoviePat Garrett & Billy the Kid
1973
as Alamosa Bill Kermit
MovieThe Red Pony
1973
as Granddad
TVKung Fu
1972
as Marcus Taylor
TVThe Brian Keith Show
1972
MovieThe Daughters of Joshua Cabe
1972
as Bitterroot
MovieThe Last Escape of Billy the Kid
1972
as Pat Garrett
MovieHannie Caulder
1971
as Frank Clemens
MovieThe Last Rebel
1971
as Matt
TVNichols
1971
as Marcus A.F. Baxter
MovieCat Ballou
1971
as Kid Sheleen
MovieSupport Your Local Gunfighter
1971
as Jug May
TVAlias Smith and Jones
1971
MovieThe Wild Country
1970
as Thompson
MoviePlimpton! Shoot-Out at Rio Lobo
1970
as Self
MovieDirty Dingus Magee
1970
as John Wesley Hardin
MovieRio Lobo
1970
as Phillips
MovieThe Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County
1970
as Kittrick
MovieThe Over the Hill Gang
1969
as Sheriff Clyde Barnes
MovieSupport Your Local Sheriff!
1969
as Jake
MovieRide a Northbound Horse
1969
as Sheriff
MovieOnce Upon a Time in the West
1968
as Frank's Gunman
MovieSartana Does Not Forgive
1968
as Slim Kovacs
TVLancer
1968
TVThe Outcasts
1968
MovieNever a Dull Moment
1968
as Ace Williams
MovieFirecreek
1968
as Norman
TVThe High Chaparral
1967
as Macklin
TVHondo
1967
TVThe Guns of Will Sonnett
1967
as Sam - Sheriff
TVCimarron Strip
1967
MovieThe Last Challenge
1967
as Ernest Scarnes
MovieThe Way West
1967
as Preacher Weatherby
TVTarzan
1966
MovieThe Night of the Grizzly
1966
as Hank
MovieThe Rare Breed
1966
as Deke Simons
TVThe Wild Wild West
1965
as Zack Slade
TVF Troop
1965
TVThe Legend of Jesse James
1965
as Deacon Smith
TVDaniel Boone
1964
as Petch
Movie4 for Texas
1963
as Dobie
TVTemple Houston
1963
as George Taggart
TVThe Dakotas
1963
as Deputy J.D. Smith
TVThe Virginian
1962
as Harve Yost
MoviePocketful of Miracles
1961
as Cheesecake
MovieThe Comancheros
1961
as Horseface (Comanchero)
TVBen Casey
1961
TVTarget: The Corruptors!
1961
MovieThe Last Sunset
1961
as Ed Hobbs
TVGunslinger
1961
as Clint Gannet
TVStagecoach West
1960
as Clell
TVOutlaws
1960
TVNational Velvet
1960
as Black Barr
MovieThe Girl in Lovers Lane
1960
as Jesse
MovieThe Slowest Gun in the West
1960
as Ike Dalton
MovieEdge of Eternity
1959
as Bill Ward
TVMr. Lucky
1959
as Phil Bricker
TVThe Untouchables
1959
as Jug Alverson
TVThe Rebel
1959
as Uncle Luce
TVThe Twilight Zone
1959
as Avery
TVLaramie
1959
as Parson Hawks
TVBonanza
1959
as Dodie Hoad
TVTightrope
1959
TVRawhide
1959
as Turkey Creek Jack Johnson
TVWestinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
TVLawman
1958
TVThe Rifleman
1958
as Sim Groder
TVThe Texan
1958
TVBronco
1958
MovieThe Gun Runners
1958
as Arnold
MovieBaby Face Nelson
1957
as Fatso Nagel
TVZorro
1957
as Gomez (uncredited)
TVThe Restless Gun
1957
as Tony Molinor
TVM Squad
1957
as Luke Morgan
TVSugarfoot
1957
as Toothy Thompson
TVHave Gun, Will Travel
1957
MovieDragoon Wells Massacre
1957
as Tioga
MovieNight Passage
1957
as Shotgun
TVRichard Diamond, Private Detective
1957
as Danny Boy
MovieGunfight at the O.K. Corral
1957
as Tom McLowery
MovieLure of the Swamp
1957
as Henry Bliss
TVTales of Wells Fargo
1957
as Chris
TVDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Hock Ellis
MovieThunder Over Arizona
1956
as Slats Callahan
MoviePardners
1956
as Pete
MovieJubal
1956
as McCoy
MovieArtists and Models
1955
as Ivan
MovieKismet
1955
as Hasan-Ben
TVScreen Director's Playhouse
1955
as Shanks
TVFrontier
1955
as Ness Fowler
TVCheyenne
1955
TVGunsmoke
1955
as Dolph Quince
MovieThe Man from Laramie
1955
as Chris Boldt
MovieWichita
1955
as Al
MovieMoonfleet
1955
as Damen
MovieKiss Me Deadly
1955
as Charlie Max
MovieMan Without a Star
1955
as Knife Murderer (uncredited)
MovieTarzan's Hidden Jungle
1955
as Burger
MovieVera Cruz
1954
as Tex
MovieCattle Queen of Montana
1954
as Yost
TVThe Wonderful World of Disney
1954
as Sheriff
TVStudio 57
1954
MoviePrincess of the Nile
1954
as Basra
MovieJubilee Trail
1954
as Whitey
MovieThe Far Country
1954
as Frank Newberry
MovieRide Clear of Diablo
1954
as Tim Lowerie
MovieAppointment in Honduras
1953
as Castro
MovieThe Moonlighter
1953
as Slim
MovieGun Belt
1953
as Rusty Kolloway
MovieRide, Vaquero!
1953
as Barton
MovieCount the Hours!
1953
as Max Verne
MovieKansas City Confidential
1952
as Pete Harris
TVMr. & Mrs. North
1952
MovieThe Ring
1952
as Harry Jackson
TVFour Star Playhouse
1952
as Vic
MovieMy Man and I
1952
as Celestino Garcia
MovieLure of the Wilderness
1952
as Dave Longden
MovieHigh Noon
1952
as Charlie - Drunk in Jail (uncredited)
MovieMontana Territory
1952
as Gimp
MovieThe Battle at Apache Pass
1952
as Mescal Jack
MovieRancho Notorious
1952
as Mort Geary
MovieFinders Keepers
1952
as Eddie
MovieThe Bushwhackers
1951
as Cree
TVSchlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Lee Dineen
MovieRawhide
1951
as Tevis
MovieBird of Paradise
1951
as The Trader
MovieAmerican Guerrilla in the Philippines
1950
as The Speaker
MovieHigh Lonesome
1950
as Smiling Man
MovieA Ticket to Tomahawk
1950
as Fargo
MovieOne Way Street
1950
as Arnie (uncredited)
MovieThe Sundowners
1950
as Earl Boyce
MovieKey to the City
1950
as Councilman (uncredited)
TVThe Lone Ranger
1949
as Reno Lawrence
MovieWild Weed
1949
as Raymond - Henchman
