11 Facts About Jay Silverheels

How would you describe his relationship with the Lone Ranger?

Photo by Diego González on Unsplash

When I was a kid, the big three of TV cowboys was, the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. All three had a sidekick. And of those sidekicks, to me, Tonto was the most noteworthy one. And of the two screen Tontos, I’ll take Jay Silverheels over Johnny Depp.

I saw when the “Lone Ranger” movie came out, I noticed it came out to terrible reviews. Undeterred, I eventually watched the movie when it came out on cable. I figured, after all, how bad can it be? It turned out worse than I could have possibly imagined. But I digress from the purpose of this piece, which is to talk about Jay Silverheels. So, with no further ado, here are some things you probably didn’t know about Jay Silverheels.

1: Silverheels was an excellent athlete, excelling in boxing and lacrosse.

With those skills, you would have thought the transition to ice hockey would have been pretty easy. Wait, being told he actually played hockey.

2: He was discovered by Joe E Brown when he was playing lacrosse in LA in 1937. Silverheels impressed Brown with his athleticism and Brown encouraged Silverheels to take a screen test.

That led to Jay getting work as an extra and a stuntman. He then worked under the name, Harry or Harold Smith. Who changes their name for Silverheels to Smith when they get into the movies. Jay must not have had an agent at the time. Hold on, being told Jay Silverheels didn’t take the name “Silverheels until his boxing days. I will say “Silverheels is better than Glassjaw.

3: Later in his career, Jay appeared in an episode of “Love, American Style.”

Actually, it should have been called, “Love, Native American Style.”

4: Jay made an interesting observation about his horse, Scout.

When asked about running Scout in a race, Jay responded, “Heck, I can outrun Scout!” It makes me wonder if Scout ever used a stunt horse.

5: While Jay is most known for his portrayal of Tonto, there is another role he played quite often in the movies.

If you look at the list of movies Jay was in, he is often cited as, Indian (uncredited). It looks like a serious case of typecasting.

6: Jay could hold a grudge.

He told Johnny Carson on the “Tonight Show” that he married his Italian wife to get back at Christopher Columbus. Man, I’ve heard revenge is a dish best served cold, but 400 or 500 years?

7: Silverheels missed some time as Tonto in 1955 due to a heart attack.

Fortunately, Jay recovered and went back to work. He dodged a silver bullet there.

8: Jay didn’t think that highly of the character, Tonto. Jay said, “He’s stupid. The Lone Ranger treats him like some kind of servant, and this seems to suit Tonto fine.”

Maybe, but now I wonder if “Kimo Sabe” meant trusted friend, or that’s just what Tonto told the Lone Ranger it meant.

9: During the late 60s, he was a PE teacher in California.

And he thought Tonto didn’t get any respect.

10: After his run as Tonto in “The Lone Ranger,” Jay continued to be type cast.

But at least he went from being type cast as “Indian” Uncredited to “Tonto” so that was progress.

11: Jay was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame as a veteran player in 1997. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

All in all, Jay did pretty well. No telling how far he could have gone if the Lone Ranger hadn’t held him back.

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