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 Bogarts 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 Rangers 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.
Diego (uncredited)
Film 1948
Tonto (archive footage)
Film 1968
Natchez
Film 1960
Lua
Film 1944
Tonto
Film 1970
Jimmy Wolf
Film 1973
Lead Warrior
Film 1952
Coatl (uncredited)
Film 1947
Indian (uncredited)
Film 1943
Astari Warrior (uncredited)
Film 1943
Apache (uncredited)
Film 1952
Tonto
Film 1956
Tonto
Film 1958
Taos
Film 1954
Creek Indian (uncredited)
Film 1949
Black Buffalo
Film 1954
Little Dog (uncredited)
Film 1948
Little Crow
Film 1951
Fighter Tito Flores
Film 1943
Chief Hevatanu
Film 1965
Benders
Film 1951
Red Cloud
Film 1953
Indian Joe
Film 1958
Beeteia
Film 1955
Yellow Hawk
Film 1954
Spotted Bear
Film 1953
Film 1972
Chingachgook
Film 1952
Lakohna
Film 1949
Yaqui
Film 1954
Elevator Boy (uncredited)
Film 1948
Chief Tecumseh
Film 1952
Satanta
Film 1953
Indian Guide at Pier (uncredited)
Film 1948
Indian (uncredited)
Film 1949
Condemned Man at Hanging (uncredited)
Film 1969
Geronimo
Film 1952
Tonto
Film 1952
Tonto
Film 1949
Film 2002
Tom Osceola (uncredited)
Film 1948
Kingsley's Henchman (uncredited)
Film 1947
Running Wolf (uncredited)
Film 1949
Indian (uncredited)
Film 1953
Indian
Film 1940
Poleon
Film 1949
Running Deer
Film 1947
Indian Marauder
Film 1941
Abel
Film 1948
Indian
Film 1942
Indian (uncredited)
Film 1948
Guard at Execution (uncredited)
Film 1944
Indian (uncredited)
Film 1944
Tonto
Film 2001
Tonto (uncredited)
Film 1959
Indian Chief
Film 1971
Tonto
Film
Tv 1969
Tv 1971
Tv 1966
Pawnee Joe
Tv 1959
Sashona
Tv 1964
Tv 1965
Charley Red Cloud
Tv 1958
Tonto
Tv 1949
Latawa
Tv 1964
Chenrogan
Tv 1964
Den'Gwatzi
Tv 1962
Spotted Hand
Tv 1962