Jay Silverheels

Jay Silverheels
Jay Silverheels, in the 1970s, at The Meadows Racetrack and Casino, Meadow Lands, Washington County, Pennsylvania
Born	Harold John Smith May 26, 1912 Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Indian Reserve, Hagersville, Ontario, Canada
Died	March 5, 1980 (aged 67) Calabasas, Los Angeles County, California
Cause of death	stroke
Resting place	Chapel of the Pines Crematory, his ashes are at Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Indian Reserve, Hagersville, Ontario, Canada
Residence	Calabasas, Los Angeles County, California
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	actor, stunt man, athlete, poet, salesman
Years active	1937–1980
Known for	Tonto
Home town	Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Indian Reserve, Hagersville, Ontario, Canada
Television	Tonto in The Lone Ranger (TV series)
Spouse(s)	Bobbi (first wife) 1 child, Mary Diroma (1945-1980; his death) 4 children

Jay Silverheels (born Harold John Smith, May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980) was a First Nations actor and athlete. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the faithful American Indian companion of the character The Lone Ranger in a long-running American western television series.

Jay Silverheels was born Harold John Smith on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, near Hagersville, Ontario, Canada, one of 11 children of a Canadian Mohawk tribal chief and military officer, Major George Smith.

Jay Silverheels excelled in athletics and lacrosse before leaving home to travel around North America. In the 1930s, he played indoor lacrosse as Harry Smith with the "Iroquois" of Rochester, New York in the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association. He lived for a time in Buffalo, New York, and in 1938 placed second in the Middleweight class of the Golden Gloves tournament.

While playing in Los Angeles on a touring box lacrosse team in 1937, Jay Silverheels impressed Joe E. Brown, with his athleticism. Brown encouraged Silverheels to do a screen test, which led to his acting career. Silverheels began working in motion pictures as an extra and stunt man in 1937. He was billed variously as Harold Smith and Harry Smith, and appeared in low-budget features, westerns, and serials. He adopted his screen name from the nickname he had as a lacrosse player. From the late 1940s, he played in major films, including Captain from Castile starring Tyrone Power, I Am an American (1944),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).