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 his wife Mabel Phoebe Dockstater, maternal Mohawk, and paternal Seneca. His father[5] was wounded and decorated for service at the battles of Somme and Ypres during World War I (Jay would have been four years old at this time), and later was an adjutant training Polish-American recruits for the Blue Army for service in France, at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
Athlete
Silverheels excelled in athletics, most notably in lacrosse, before leaving home to travel around North America. In 1931, owners of National Hockey League's franchises in Toronto and Montreal created indoor lacrosse (also known as "box lacrosse") as a means to fill empty arenas during the summers. Playing as "Harry Smith", Silverheels was among the first players chosen to play for the Toronto Tecumsehs.[3] Along with his brothers and cousin, Russell (Beef), Sid (Porky), and George (Chubby), he also played on teams in Buffalo, Rochester, Atlantic City, and Akron throughout the 1930s on teams in the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association.[6] He lived for a time in Buffalo, New York. In 1938, he placed second in the middleweight class of the Golden Gloves tournament held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.[7] Silverheels was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame as a veteran player in 1997.
Actor
Films
While playing in Los Angeles on a touring box lacrosse team in 1937, Silverheels impressed Joe E. Brown with his athleticism.[2] Brown encouraged him to do a screen test, which led to his acting career.[3] Silverheels began working in motion pictures as an extra and stuntman[8][9] in 1937.[10] He was billed variously as Harold Smith and Harry Smith, and appeared in low-budget features, Westerns, and serials.[11]
When The Lone Ranger television series ended, Silverheels continued to be typecast as a Native American. On January 6, 1960, he portrayed a Native American fireman trying to extinguish a forest fire in the episode "Leap of Life" in the syndicated series, Rescue 8, starring Jim Davis and fellow Canadian Lang Jeffries.
Silverheels appeared in an episode of the TV series Love, American Style. The segment, "Love and the Test of Manhood", first aired on February 11, 1972.
Eventually, he went to work as a salesman to supplement his acting income.[16] He also began to publish poetry inspired by his youth on the Six Nations Indian Reserve and recited his work on television. In 1966, he guest-starred as John Tallgrass in the short-lived ABC comedy/Western series The Rounders, with Ron Hayes, Patrick Wayne, and Chill Wills.
Despite the typecasting, Silverheels in later years often poked fun at his character. In 1969, he appeared as Tonto without the Lone Ranger in a comedy sketch on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.[17] The sketch was featured on the 1974 record album Here's Johnny: Magic Moments from the Tonight Show. "My name is Tonto. I hail from Toronto and I speak Esperanto." In 1970, he appeared in a commercial for Chevrolet as a Native American chief who rescues two lost hunters, who had ignored his advice, in that year's Chevy Blazer. The William Tell Overture is heard in the background.
Silverheels raised, bred, and raced Standardbred horses in his spare time. Once, when asked about possibly running Tonto's paint horse Scout in a race, Jay laughed off the idea: "Heck, I can outrun Scout!"[22]
Married twice, Silverheels had two sons (Steve, with his first wife; Jay Anthony Jr., who followed his father into acting) and four daughters (Marilyn, Gail, Pamela, and Karen).[23]
Death
Silverheels suffered a stroke in 1976,[8] and the following year, Clayton Moore – his co-star on The Lone Ranger – rode an American Paint Horse in Silverheels' honor in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade.[24] Silverheels died on March 5, 1980, from a stroke,[2] at age 67, in Calabasas, California.[25] He was cremated at Chapel of the Pines Crematory, and his ashes were returned to the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario.[8]
In 1997, Silverheels was inducted, under the name Harry "Tonto" Smith, into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in the Veteran Player category in recognition of his lacrosse career during the 1930s.
A fictionalized version of Silverheels appears in the Thrilling Adventure Hour serialized segment "Tales from the Black Lagoon".
His friend Milan Smith, a trainer and racehorse owner, promised that he would name a horse after Silverheels.[26] He named a pacer "Hi Ho Silverheels".[26][27]
^"Lacrosse: 1936 North Shore Indians"(PDF). Hero in You. Archived from the original(PDF) on April 2, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2011. His job in Hollywood was to help his partner, "The Lone Ranger" stop the devious plots of hardened outlaws.
^Hauptman, Laurence (2008). Seven Generations of Iroquois Leadership: The Six Nations Since 1800. Syracuse University Press. pp. 102, 126. ISBN978-0-8156-3165-1.
^"Jay Silverheels". Brantford & Area Sports Hall Of Recognition. Archived from the original on March 25, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2011. In the 1930s he played lacrosse with the Rochester, NY "Iroquois" team of the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association
^"Jay Silverheels". Nimst.tripod.com. Retrieved November 21, 2011. He finished second in the Eastern Square finals of the Golden Gloves boxing championship in Madison Square Garden.
^ abcPetten, Cheryl. "Jay Silverheels – Footprints". The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA). Archived from the original on November 28, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2011. Silverheels, an accomplished boxer, wrestler and lacrosse player, capitalized on this athletic prowess to break into the movie business, starting as a stuntman and extra.
^"Jay Silverheels". CKA. Retrieved November 21, 2011. He worked as a stuntman and extra before landing bit parts in the early 1940s, almost always credited as simply "Indian" or "Indian Brave".
^"Jay Silverheels". The Old Corral – Indians (b-westerns.com). Retrieved November 21, 2011. … he was in four serials at Republic when he was still going by Harry Smith, before he changed his name …
^"Jay Silverheels". Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Archived from the original on October 27, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2011. Changing his name to Jay Smith Silverheels, partly a nickname from his uncle due to his superb running style
^"Jay Silverheels". The Lone Ranger Official Fan Club. Archived from the original on November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019. … he became noted for the white running shoes he wore. He was so swift that his feet were streaks of white.
^"Jay Silverheels". Hollywood Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 21, 2011. In addition to starring in The Lone Ranger television series from 1949 to 1957, Silverheels appeared in the films The Lone Ranger and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold.
^Brightwell, Eric (November 24, 2010). "Jay Silverheels – Happy American Indian Heritage Month". Amoeblog. Amoeba Music. Retrieved November 21, 2011. … with his career no longer sufficient to support his family, he began working as a salesman.
^"Jay Silverheels". The Lone Ranger.tv. Archived from the original on February 5, 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2011. Jay Silverheels suffered a stroke in 1974 and passed away on March 5, 1980 after several years of ill health