Jay Silverheels

Silverheels was born Harold Jay Smith in Canada, on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, near Hagersville, Ontario. He was a grandson of Mohawk Chief A. G. Smith and Mary Wedge, and one of the 11 children of Captain Alexander George Edwin Smith, MC, Cayuga, and his wife Mabel Phoebe Dockstater, maternal Mohawk, and paternal Seneca. His father{{cite book|last1=Hauptman|first1=Laurence|title=Seven Generations of Iroquois Leadership: The Six Nations Since 1800|date=2008|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-3165-1|pages=102, 126}} was wounded and decorated for service at the battles of Somme and Ypres during World War I (Jay would have been four years old at this time), and later was an adjutant training Polish-American recruits for the Blue Army for service in France, at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.

Silverheels excelled in athletics, most notably in lacrosse, before leaving home to travel around North America. In 1931, owners of National Hockey League's franchises in Toronto and Montreal created indoor lacrosse (also known as "box lacrosse") as a means to fill empty arenas during the summers. Playing as "Harry Smith", Silverheels was among the first players chosen to play for the Toronto Tecumsehs. Along with his brothers and cousin, Russell (Beef), Sid (Porky), and George (Chubby), he also played on teams in Buffalo, Rochester, Atlantic City, and Akron throughout the 1930s on teams in the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association.{{cite web|url= http://brantsportshall.com/Inductees/JaySilverheels/|title=Jay Silverheels|quote=In the 1930s he played lacrosse with the Rochester, NY "Iroquois" team of the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association|access-date= November 21, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120325214047/http://brantsportshall.com/Inductees/JaySilverheels/|archive-date= March 25, 2012|website= Brantford & Area Sports Hall Of Recognition}} He lived for a time in Buffalo, New York. In 1938, he placed second in the middleweight class of the Golden Gloves tournament held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.{{cite web|url= http://nimst.tripod.com/cgi-bin/UC9.html|title=Jay Silverheels|quote=He finished second in the Eastern Square finals of the Golden Gloves boxing championship in Madison Square Garden.|website=Nimst.tripod.com|access-date= November 21, 2011 }} Silverheels was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame as a veteran player in 1997.

While playing in Los Angeles on a touring box lacrosse team in 1937, Silverheels impressed Joe E. Brown with his athleticism. Brown encouraged him to do a screen test, which led to his acting career. Silverheels began working in motion pictures as an extra and stuntman{{cite web |url= http://www.ammsa.com/content/jay-silverheels-footprints |title= Jay Silverheels – Footprints|first=Cheryl |last=Petten|quote=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. |publisher=The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA) |access-date= November 21, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111128005252/http://www.ammsa.com/content/jay-silverheels-footprints |archive-date= November 28, 2011 |url-status= dead }}{{cite web|url= http://www.canadaka.net/modules.php?name=Famous_Canadians&action=viewperson&person=250 |title=Jay Silverheels |quote=He worked as a stuntman and extra before landing bit parts in the early 1940s, almost always credited as simply "Indian" or "Indian Brave".|website=CKA |access-date = November 21, 2011 }} in 1937.{{citation

|last1=Quinlan

|first1=David

|author-link1=David Quinlan (film critic)

|title=Quinlan's Illustrated Directory of Film Character Actors

|year=1985

|edition=1995 revised

|publisher=The Bath Press

|location=Great Britain

|isbn=0-87000-412-3

|page=[https://archive.org/details/hollywoodbeautie00pari/page/319 319]

|url-access=registration

|url=https://archive.org/details/hollywoodbeautie00pari/page/319

}} He was billed variously as Harold Smith and Harry Smith, and appeared in low-budget features, Westerns, and serials.{{cite web|url= http://www.b-westerns.com/native5.htm |title=Jay Silverheels|quote=… he was in four serials at Republic when he was still going by Harry Smith, before he changed his name … |website=The Old Corral – Indians (b-westerns.com) |access-date = November 21, 2011 }}

He adopted his screen name from the nickname he had as a lacrosse player.{{cite web|url= http://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/jsilverheels.html|title=Jay Silverheels|quote=Changing his name to Jay Smith Silverheels, partly a nickname from his uncle due to his superb running style|website=Haudenosaunee Confederacy|access-date=November 21, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027045807/http://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/jsilverheels.html|archive-date=October 27, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lonerangerfanclub.com/jaysilverheels.html|title=Jay Silverheels|quote=… he became noted for the white running shoes he wore. He was so swift that his feet were streaks of white.|website=The Lone Ranger Official Fan Club|access-date=November 12, 2019|archive-date=November 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191125130403/http://lonerangerfanclub.com/jaysilverheels.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2009/03/tonto-via-toronto-the-rise-and-fall-of-jay-silverheels.html |title=Tonto via Toronto: The Rise and Fall of Jay Silverheels by Kliph Nesteroff|website=WFMU's Beware of the Blog |date=March 15, 2009 |access-date=March 8, 2015}} Jay Silverheels was cast in a short feature film, I Am an American (1944).{{efn|1=The 16 minute film, I Am an American, was featured in American theaters in connection with "I Am an American Day" (now called Constitution Day). It 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: {{TCMDb title|730264|title=I Am An American}}.}} From the late 1940s, he played in major films, including Captain from Castile starring Tyrone Power (1947), 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., The Black Dakotas (1954) as Black Buffalo, 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).

File:Lone Ranger and Tonto 1956.jpg as the Lone Ranger and Jay Silverheels as Tonto: Moore is riding Silver, while Silverheels is riding Scout.]]

Jay Silverheels achieved his greatest fame as Tonto on The Lone Ranger TV series (1949–1957). Silverheels appeared in the film sequels: The Lone Ranger (1956) and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958).{{cite web|url= http://www.walkoffame.com/jay-silverheels|title=Jay Silverheels|quote=In addition to starring in 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.|website=Hollywood Hall of Fame|access-date= November 21, 2011}}

When The Lone Ranger television series ended, Silverheels continued to be typecast as a Native American. On January 6, 1960, he portrayed a Native American firefighter trying to extinguish a forest fire in the episode "Leap of Life" in the syndicated series, Rescue 8, starring Jim Davis and fellow Canadian Lang Jeffries.

Silverheels appeared in an episode of the TV series Love, American Style. The segment, "Love and the Test of Manhood", first aired on February 11, 1972.

Eventually, he went to work as a salesman to supplement his acting income.{{cite web|url= http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2010/11/eric-s-blog/jay-silverheels-happy-american-indian-heritage-month.html|title=Jay Silverheels – Happy American Indian Heritage Month|first=Eric|last=Brightwell|date=November 24, 2010|quote=… with his career no longer sufficient to support his family, he began working as a salesman.|website=Amoeblog|publisher=Amoeba Music|access-date= November 21, 2011 }} He also began to publish poetry inspired by his youth on the Six Nations Indian Reserve and recited his work on television. 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.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/RwwUuxV9It4 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20210210231035/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwwUuxV9It4 Wayback Machine]}}{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwwUuxV9It4|title= Kemosabe: Tonto (Jay Silverheels) – Tonight Show 1969|date=August 27, 2019|publisher=Significado|access-date= November 12, 2019|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} The sketch was featured on the 1974 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 appeared in a commercial for Chevrolet as a Native American chief who rescues two lost hunters, who had ignored his advice, in that year's Chevy Blazer. The William Tell Overture is heard in the background.

Silverheels spoofed his Tonto character, opposite Clayton Moore, in a Stan Freberg Jeno's Pizza Rolls TV commercial, which was set to the music of the William Tell Overture, and in The Phynx opposite John Hart, who also played the Lone Ranger in the original television series.

He appeared in three 1964/5 episodes of NBC's Daniel Boone, starring Fess Parker in the title role.

His later appearances included an episode of ABC's The Brady Bunch, as a Native American 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,{{cite web|url= http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0884988.html|title= Silverheels was a spokesperson for aboriginal actors and in 1963 founded the Indian Actors Workshop.|publisher=Infoplease.com|access-date = November 21, 2011 }} where Native American actors refined their skills{{cite web|url= http://www.famouscanadians.net/name/s/silverheelsjay.php |title= He founded the Indian Actors' Workshop in 1966 with Will Sampson and offered free classes for Native Americans|publisher=Famouscanadians.net |access-date = November 21, 2011 }} in Echo Park, Los Angeles.{{cite web|url= http://www.celebhost.net/claytonmoore/jay.html |title= He formed the Indian Actors Workshop in Echo Park in the late 1960s |publisher=Celebhost.net|access-date = November 21, 2011 }} Today, the workshop is firmly established.{{cite web |url= http://www.jessicacrabtree.com/journal1/tag/jay-silverheels |title= He later founded the Indian Actors Workshop, which he devoted enormous amounts of time and resources to. It still exists today. |publisher= Jessicacrabtree.com |access-date= November 21, 2011 |archive-date= March 24, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120324175645/http://www.jessicacrabtree.com/journal1/tag/jay-silverheels |url-status= dead }}

Silverheels raised, bred, and raced Standardbred horses in his spare time. Once, when asked about possibly running Tonto's paint horse Scout in a race, Jay laughed off the idea: "Heck, I can outrun Scout!"{{cite web |url= http://www.tv.com/people/jay-silverheels/ |title= In the '70s he became a harness racing driver and bred horses. |publisher= Tv.com |access-date= November 21, 2011 |archive-date= March 12, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120312060719/http://www.tv.com/people/jay-silverheels/ |url-status= dead }}

Married twice, Silverheels had two sons (Steve, with his first wife; Jay Anthony Jr., who followed his father into acting) and four daughters (Marilyn, Gail, Pamela, and Karen).{{cite web|url= http://www.filmreference.com/film/77/Jay-Silverheels.html |title=Jay Silverheels Biography (c. 1918–1980) |quote=… married, wife's name, Mary; children: Marilyn, Pamela, Karen, Jay Anthony.|website=Film Reference|access-date= November 21, 2011 }}

Silverheels suffered a stroke in 1976, and the following year, Clayton Moore{{snd}}his co-star on The Lone Ranger{{snd}}rode an American Paint Horse in Silverheels's honor in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade.{{cite web|url=http://americacomesalive.com/2014/11/18/jay-silverheels-played-tonto-lone-ranger|title=Jay Silverheels, Played Tonto in The Lone Ranger|website=America Comes Alive!|date=November 19, 2014|access-date=October 16, 2016}} Silverheels died on March 5, 1980, from a stroke, at age 67, in Calabasas, California.{{cite web|url= http://www.theloneranger.tv/tonto|title=Jay Silverheels|quote=Jay Silverheels suffered a stroke in 1974 and passed away on March 5, 1980 after several years of ill health|website=The Lone Ranger.tv|access-date= November 21, 2011|url-status=usurped|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100205060415/http://www.theloneranger.tv/tonto|archive-date=February 5, 2010}} He was cremated at Chapel of the Pines Crematory, and his ashes were returned to the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. His cenotaph sits at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) in Glendale, California.

File:Jay Silverheels star HWF.JPG 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 Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, New York. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6538 Hollywood Boulevard, awarded on July 17, 1979. First Americans in the Arts honored Silverheels with their Life Achievement Award.

In 1997, Silverheels was inducted, under the name Harry "Tonto" Smith, into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in the Veteran Player category in recognition of his lacrosse career during the 1930s.

A fictionalized version of Silverheels appears in the Thrilling Adventure Hour serialized segment "Tales from the Black Lagoon".

His friend Milan Smith, a trainer and racehorse owner, promised that he would name a horse after Silverheels.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/167397582/|title=Tonto's Pacer Ever Faithful|work=Chicago Tribune|location=Chicago, Illinois|date=November 17, 1994|access-date=January 8, 2022|page=65|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}} He named a pacer "Hi Ho Silverheels".{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-03-sp-38245-story.html|title=LOS ALAMITOS: Hi Ho Silverheels Tries to Gain Identity as a Winning Pacer|first=Steve|last=Schuelein|work=Los Angeles Times|date=March 3, 1995|access-date=January 8, 2022}}

{{div col}}

• Make a Wish (1937) – Indian Guide (uncredited)
• The Sea Hawk (1940) – Native Lookout (uncredited)
• Kit Carson (1940) – Indian (uncredited)
• Too Many Girls (1940) – Indian (uncredited)
• Hudson's Bay (1941) – Indian (uncredited)
• Western Union (1941) – Indian (uncredited)
• Jungle Girl (1941, Serial) – Lion Man Guard [Chs. 2–3, 15] (uncredited)
• This Woman Is Mine (1941) – Indian Marauder (uncredited)
• Valley of the Sun (1942) – Indian (uncredited)
• Perils of Nyoka (1942, Serial) – Tuareg (uncredited)
• Good Morning, Judge (1943) – Indian (uncredited)
• Daredevils of the West (1943, Serial) – Kiaga [Ch. 8–9] (uncredited)
• The Girl from Monterrey (1943) – Fighter Tito Flores
• Northern Pursuit (1943) – Indian (uncredited)
• The Phantom (1943, Serial) – Astari Warrior (uncredited)
• Passage to Marseille (1944) – Sailor Crewman on Boat Deck (uncredited)
• The Tiger Woman (1944, Serial) – Native at Shack Shoot-Out [Ch. 7] (uncredited)
• Call of the Jungle (1944) – Native (uncredited)
• Haunted Harbor (1944, Serial) – Native [Chs. 11–12] (uncredited)
• Lost in a Harem (1944) – Guard at Execution (uncredited)
• Tahiti Nights (1944) – Lua (uncredited)
• Song of the Sarong (1945) – Spearman (uncredited)
• Romance of the West (1946) – Young Bear (uncredited)
• Singin' in the Corn (1946) – Indian Brave
• Gas House Kids Go West (1947) – Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited)
• Northwest Outpost (1947) – Indian Scout (uncredited)
• Unconquered (1947) – Indian (uncredited)
• The Last Round-up (1947) – Sam Luther (uncredited)
• The Prairie (1947) – Running Deer
• Captain from Castile (1947) – Coatl (uncredited)
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) – Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)
• Fury at Furnace Creek (1948) – Little Dog (uncredited)
• Key Largo (1948) – Tom Osceola (uncredited)
• Singin' Spurs (1948) – Abel
• Family Honeymoon (1948) – Elevator Boy (uncredited)
• The Feathered Serpent (1948) – Diego (uncredited)
• Yellow Sky (1948) – Indian (uncredited)
• Song of India (1949) – Villager (uncredited)
• Tulsa (1949) – Creek Indian (uncredited)
• Laramie (1949) – Running Wolf (uncredited)
• Lust for Gold (1949) – Deputy Walter (uncredited)
• Trail of the Yukon (1949) – Poleon
• Sand (1949) – Indian (uncredited)
• The Cowboy and the Indians (1949) – Lakoma
• Broken Arrow (1950) – Geronimo (uncredited)
• The Wild Blue Yonder (1951) – Benders
• Red Mountain (1951) – Little Crow
• The Battle at Apache Pass (1952) – Geronimo
• The Half-Breed (1952) – Apache (uncredited)
• Brave Warrior (1952) – Tecumseh
• The Story of Will Rogers (1952) – Joe Arrow (uncredited)
• Yankee Buccaneer (1952) – Lead Warrior
• The Pathfinder (1952) – Chingachgook
• The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1952) – Tonto
• Last of the Comanches (1953) – Indian (uncredited)
• Jack McCall, Desperado (1953) – Red Cloud
• The Nebraskan (1953) – Spotted Bear
• War Arrow (1953) – Satanta
• Saskatchewan (1954) (with Alan Ladd) – Cajou
• Drums Across The River (1954) (with Audie Murphy) – Taos
• The Black Dakotas (1954) – Black Buffalo
• Four Guns to the Border (1954) – Yaqui
• Masterson of Kansas (1954) – Yellow Hawk
• The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1955, TV Movie) – Tonto
• The Lone Ranger Story (1955) – Tonto
• The Vanishing American (1955) – Beeteia
• The Lone Ranger (1956) – Tonto
• Walk the Proud Land (1956) – Geronimo
• Return to Warbow (1958) – Indian Joe
• The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958) – Tonto
• Alias Jesse James (1959) – Tonto (uncredited)
• Indian Paint (1965) – Chief Hevatanu
• Smith! (1969) – McDonald Lasheway
• True Grit (1969) – Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
• The Phynx (1970) – Tonto
• In Pursuit of Treasure (1972)
• One Little Indian (1973) – Jimmy Wolf
• The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973) – The Chief
• Santee (1973) – John Crow

{{div col end}}

{{div col}}

• The Lone Ranger – 217 episodes – Tonto (1949–1957)
• Wide Wide World – episode – The Western – Himself (1958)
• Wanted Dead or Alive – S2 E14 – Man on Horseback – Charley Red Cloud (1959)
• Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color – episode – Texas John Slaughter: Apache Friendship & Texas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge – Natchez (1960)
• Gunslinger – episode – The Recruit – Hopi Indian (1961)
• Wagon Train – episode – Path of the Serpent – The Serpent (1961)
• Rawhide – episode – The Gentleman's Gentleman – Pawnee Joe (1961)
• Laramie – episode – The Day of the Savage – Toma (1962)
• Daniel Boone (1964 TV series) – Chenrogan – S1/E11 "Mountain of the Dead" (1964)
• Daniel Boone (1964 TV series) – Latawa – S1/E20 "The Quietists" (1965)
• Branded – episode – The Test – Wild Horse (1965)
• Daniel Boone (1964 TV series) – Sashona – S2/E14 "The Christmas Story" (1965)
• Gentle Ben – episode – Invasion of Willie Sam Gopher – Willie Sam Gopher (1967)
• The Virginian – episode – The Heritage – Den'Gwatzi (1968)
• The Brady Bunch – episode – The Brady Braves – Chief Eagle Cloud (1971)
• The Virginian – episode – The Animal – Spotted Hand (1971)
• Cannon – episode – Valley of the Damned – Jimmy One Eye (1973)

{{div col end}}

• Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood

Informational notes

{{notelist}}

Citations

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

• {{cite book |last=Lamparski |first=Richard |year=1970 |orig-year=1968 |title=Whatever Became Of...? Volume 3 |location=New York |publisher=Ace Books |oclc=8977472}}
• {{cite book |last=Misiak |first=Zig |year=2012 |title=Tonto: The Man in Front of the Mask |location=Brantford, Ont. |publisher=Real Peoples History |isbn=978-0981188065 |oclc=933150680}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2009/03/tonto-via-toronto-the-rise-and-fall-of-jay-silverheels.html The Rise and Fall of Jay Silverheels] at WFMU
• [http://nimst.tripod.com/cgi-bin/UC9.html Jay Silverheels tribute site]
• {{IMDb name|0798855}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080529055203/http://www.ammsa.com/buffalospirit/2004/footprints-JSilverheels.html Biographical Information]}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20061130072245/http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=16543 Screen Legends ]}}
• [http://www.moniteausaddleclub.com/western_stars_jaysilverheels.htm Western Stars Quick Quiz on Jay Silverheels]
• [https://www.amc.com/shows/broken-trail/talk/2009/12/broken-trail-an AMC article on Western Sidekicks]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071112111203/http://www.realpeopleshistory.com/ Jay Silverheels Biography;Tonto: The Man in Front of the Mask]}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silverheels, Jay}}

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