Harold Jay Smith, better known as Jay Silverheels, was a Canadian actor, athlete, stuntman, poet, and salesman, descended from three Iroquois nations. For Disney, he appeared in the Walt Disney Presents serial "Texas John Slaughter", Smith!, and One Little Indian.
Born in Canada, on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, near Hagersville, Ontario. He was a grandson of Mohawk Chief A. G. Smith. His father was wounded and decorated for service at the battles of Somme and Ypres during World War I, and later was an adjutant training Polish-American recruits for the Blue Army for service in France, at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Excelling in lacrosse, he travelled throughout North America with the Toronto Tecumsehs in the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association.
In 1937, he was encouraged to take a screen test and he began work as a stuntman and extra in Westerns and serials. He appeared in films, such as The Sea Hawk, Kit Carson, Jungle Girl, Singin' Spurs, Laramie, Trail of the Yukon, The Cowboy and the Indians, The Story of Will Rogers, Yankee Buccaneer, The Pathfinder (1952), War Arrow, The Nebraskan, Saskatchewan, Indian Paint, True Grit (1969), In Pursuit of Treasure, Santee, and played the historical figure Geronimo in Broken Arrow, The Battle at Apache Pass, and Walk the Proud Land. However, Silverheels is recognized for his television role of Tonto in The Lone Ranger from 1949 to 1957. He reprised the role for the films The Lone Ranger (1956) and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold as well as in commercials and cameos spoofs in the media. His other television credits included Love, American Style, The Rounders, NBC's Daniel Boone, The Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island, Wanted Dead or Alive, Wagon Train, Rawhide, and The Virginian.
Outside of acting, Silverheels supported the Indian Actors Workshop, where Native American actors refined their skills in Echo Park, Los Angeles. In later years, he became a spokesman for Indian rights and a respected teacher within the Indian acting community as well as worked as a salesman to supplement his acting income and write publish poetry. In his later years, he became a harness racer until his health began to fail in the mid-1970s.
Silverheels suffered a stroke in 1976, Silverheels died on March 5, 1980, from a another stroke. He was cremated at Chapel of the Pines Crematory, and his ashes were returned to the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario.
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | "Texas John Slaughter" | Natchez |
| 1969 | Smith! | McDonald Lasheway |
| 1973 | One Little Indian | Jimmy Wolf |
