Voting Station

Jay Silverheels

Please vote to return to collections.

Actor

The Resume

    (May 26, 1912-March 5, 1980)
    Born at the Six Nations Reservation, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
    Birth name was Harold J. Smith
    Best know for his role as Tonto in the TV series 'The Lone Ranger' (1949-57) and the movies 'The Lone Ranger (1956)' and 'The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958)'
    Also acted in 'Captain from Castile (1947),' 'The Prairie (1948),' 'Key Largo (1948),' 'Lust for Gold (1949),' 'For Those who Dare (1949),' 'Broken Arrow (1950),' 'Battle of Apache Pass (1952),' 'War Arrow (1953),' 'Drums Across the River (1954),' 'The Vanishing American (1955),' 'Walk the Proud Land (1956),' 'Alias Jesse James (1959),' 'Indian Paint (1966),' 'Smith! (1969),' 'True Grit (1969),' 'Santee (1973),' 'The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973)' and 'A Different Drum (1974)'
    Died of a stroke at age 67

Why he might be annoying:

    Besides his birth name and Tonto, he also went by Silverheels Smith and Harry Smith (Harry was his nickname), until he legally adopted the name Jay Smith Silverheels.
    His character name in many of his early film roles was simply 'Indian.'
    Two words: ' Kemo Sabe.'
    In Spanish, Tonto translates to 'foolish.'
    He caught flak from some Native Americans for the dialect he used as Tonto.
    After 'The Lone Ranger' had run its course, he was all but typecast and didn't get very many roles afterwards.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was born the son of a Mohawk Chief.
    He excelled in many sports, such as boxing, wrestling, hockey, horse racing, football, and especially lacrosse.
    Actor Joe E. Brown spotted him playing lacrosse and offered him a job as a stunt actor.
    During the run of 'The Lone Ranger' he suffered a heart attack but made a quick recovery and missed just a few episodes.
    On an appearance of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, he told Johnny he married an Italian woman to 'get back at Christopher Columbus' and called their children 'Indalions.'
    He was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (1993).
    He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
    He became an advocate for improving the quality of scripts offered to Native American actors.
    Trivia: James Jewell, the director & co-creator of the Lone Ranger radio series, coined the term 'Kemo Sabe' from his father-in-law, who ran a camp called Ke-Moh-Sah-Bee in Michigan.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 14.29% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 19 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 7 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 20 Votes: 45.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 23 Votes: 21.74% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 15 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 20 Votes: 15.00% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 86 Votes: 44.19% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 195 Votes: 64.62% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 26 Votes: 26.92% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 43 Votes: 34.88% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 121 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 168 Votes: 42.26% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 350 Votes: 47.43% Annoying