Jay silverheels actor biography williams
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Jay Silverheels
Canadian Mohawk actor and athlete (1912–1980)
Jay Silverheels | |
|---|---|
Silverheels at The Meadows Racetrack in Pennsylvania, 1970s | |
| Born | Harold Jay Smith May 26, 1912 Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | March 5, 1980 (aged 67) Calabasas, California, US |
| Nationality | Mohawk / Canadian |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, stunt man, athlete, poet, salesman |
| Years active | 1937–1980 |
| Known for | Tonto |
| Television | Tonto in The Lone Ranger (TV series) |
| Spouses |
Mary Diroma (m. 1945) |
| Children | 6 |
Jay Silverheels (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980, Mohawk)[1] was a Canadian actor and athlete, descended from three Iroquois nations.[2] He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger[3][4] in the American Westerntelevision seriesThe Lone Ranger.
Early life
[edit]Silverheels was born Harold Jay Smith in Canada, on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, near Hagersville, Ontario.[3] 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
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Jay Silverheels was born on Canada's Six Nation's Reserve and was one of 10 children. 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 through the 1940s before gaining notice as the Osceola brother in a Humphrey Bogart film Key Largo (1948). Most of Silverheels' roles consisted of bit parts as an Indian character. In 1949, he worked in the movie The Cowboy and the Indians (1949) with another "B movie" actor Clayton Moore. Later that year, Silverheels was hired to play the faithful Indian companion, Tonto, in the TV series The Lone Ranger (1949) series, which brought him the fame that his motion picture career never did.
Silverheels recreated 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 TV series ended in 1957, Silverheels could not escape the typecasting of Tonto. He would continue to appear in an occasional film and television show but became a spokesperson to improve the portrayal of Indians in the media.
BornMay 26, 1912
DiedMarch 5, 1980(67)
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Historica Canada Instruction Portal
Overview
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Aims
Through a manner of conniving and repertory activities, session will detect Jay Silverheels's career charge accomplishments onetime exploring rendering broader issues of racial discrimination, stereotyping, typecasting, and appearances of Foremost Nations occupy film crucial television.
Background
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