The Ultimate Western Sidekick Is Also the Genres Greatest Force

May 2024 · 9 minute read

The Big Picture

Few Western characters are as famous as the original Lone Ranger. Played primarily by Clayton Moore, the Lone Ranger and his partner Tonto traveled across the American Old West to bring in the criminals that the law couldn't seem to catch. The best-known version of Tonto comes from The Lone Ranger television series that debuted in 1949. This sidekick was played by none other than Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk-Seneca actor who would become one of the most prolific (albeit uncredited) faces in the Western genre. Even if you haven't seen a single episode of The Lone Ranger, you've probably seen Silverheels before, even if you didn't know it. As far as the ultimate Western sidekicks go, look no further than the original Tonto himself.

The Lone Ranger
TV-GWestern

The adventures of the masked hero and his Native American partner.

Release Date September 15, 1949 Cast Jay Silverheels , Clayton Moore , Bill Ward , John Hart Main Genre Western Seasons 5 Creator George W. Trendle, George W. George

Jay Silverheels' Journey From Athlete to Actor on 'The Lone Ranger'

Originally from the Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, Canada, Jay Silverheels was first an impressive lacrosse player before he was an actor. According to Zig Misiak in his biography of Silverheels titled Tonto: The Man in Front of the Mask, lacrosse is known as "the Creator's game," and is a massive part of Six Nations culture. No wonder Silverheels, who was born Harold Jay Smith, took to the game so well. In fact, Silverheels adapted his well-known name because of his speed on the field. "One time the boys won new white lacrosse shoes for playing good and Harry ran so fast in them new white shoes, all you could see was flashes of white at his heels," a former player noted years later. "I guess they couldn't very well call him Whiteheels, him being Mohawk and all, so they called him Silverheels."

Naturally, the name stuck, and upon moving to Hollywood to pursue his athletic career further, Silverheels found himself working as a stuntman before landing the role of Tonto on the television adaptation of The Lone Ranger. Beforehand, the character had been relegated to the radio, where he was voiced by white actor John Todd, while Chief Thundercloud played Tonto in the two live-action serials in the late 1930s. A decade later, Silverheels took on the role, which he played for a remarkable 217 episodes out of the show's 221 total. This was more than even Clayton Moore's run as the Lone Ranger (which totaled 169 episodes) as he was replaced temporarily by John Hart for the show's 52-episode third season. Additionally, Silverheels reprised his role in two post-series films, including The Lone Ranger, The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold, and an uncredited appearance in 1959's Alias Jesse James.

At the time, there were very few heroic depictions of Native Americans on Western television, not to mention in the motion picture business as a whole. More often than not, movies such as John Ford's Stagecoach relegated Apache warriors or other Native peoples to unseen forces of destruction that threatened our heroes. The classic "Cowboys vs Indians" conflict was common during this period, with productions such as The Lone Ranger being imperfect trailblazers for inclusivity and diversity. While he may not be seen this way now, at the time Jay Silverheels' portrayal of Tonto was revolutionary, and his heroic exploits dignified a group of people so often maligned or completely ignored.

Jay Silverheels Wasn't Always a Fan of His 'Lone Ranger' Character

Because of The Lone Ranger, Jay Silverheels rose promptly to stardom, something the actor likely didn't expect in playing a sidekick. But the program became popular almost overnight, and as a result, Tonto became a household name. But although the character was a step in the right direction for Hollywood and the Western genre at large, not everyone appreciated the sidekick's pidgin English, most notably Native American writer and poet Sherman Alexie, who also wrote the screenplay to Smoke Signals. "I am always aware of how my whole life is shaped by my hatred of Tonto," Alexie wrote in a 1998 piece published by the Los Angeles Times. "Whenever I think of Tonto, I hear ominous music."

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But Alexie wasn't the only one who didn't exactly love Tonto, Silverheels had his own problems with the Lone Ranger's monosyllabic sidekick. “He’s stupid,” Silverheels once said of Tonto while visiting the Six Nations reserve in 1957. "The Lone Ranger treats him like some kind of servant, and this seems to suit Tonto fine." Despite playing the character for over 200 episodes, Silverheels didn't have the highest opinion of his most famous character. He even appeared on The Tonight Show on a 1969 episode alongside Johnny Carson, where he showed up in costume to parody his trademark role. This lighthearted jab at Silverheels' Tonto is pretty harmless, and while the actor himself may have struggled with the lack of range in playing the character, he certainly knew how to poke fun at it.

Later renditions of Tonto gave the character a bit more agency, especially concerning his traditional manner of speaking. The later animated adaptation of The Lone Ranger, as well as subsequent film reboots such as 1981's The Legend of the Lone Ranger (where Michael Horse played the character) and Disney's controversial 2013 film that featured Johnny Depp in the role, all gave Tonto more to do and allowed him to speak (generally) in full sentences. In fact, the latter film hoped to spawn sequels that would further emphasize and honor Tonto's story. Nevertheless, Tonto is no longer portrayed as wooden or simple like he was by Silverheels back in the day, though he still says "Ke-mo sah-bee" quite a bit.

Jay Silverheels Played Other Western Icons (Though Often Went Uncredited)

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While Silverheels was known primarily for his work as Tonto, the Native American actor didn't just play the tribally-ambiguous sidekick. In fact, his filmography was as vast and impressive as other Western heroes like John Wayne, James Stewart, and Gene Autry, all of whom he'd appear alongside at some point in his career. One of his most consistent roles was as the infamous Apache warrior chief Geronimo, a complex character whom he played in The Battle at Apache Pass, Walk the Proud Land, and perhaps most famously, opposite Jimmy Stewart in the 1950 Western Broken Arrow, in which he went uncredited.

The issue of uncredited work was a recurring one for Silverheels. In 47 different pictures, the Mohawk actor didn't receive on-screen credit for his work, and only received his first credit a decade into his acting career for the 1946 feature Singin' in the Corn, where he played "Indian Brave." A lot of that changed in the 1950s, after his work on Broken Arrow, where Silverheels started playing bigger parts in features. Of course, his work on The Lone Ranger didn't hurt either, which kickstarted his career beginning in 1949. He'd play Tonto for nearly a decade before moving on from the character, but in that time also managed to play Geronimo three times, Chief Yellow Hawk in Masterson of Kansas, Beeteia in The Vanishing American, and Lakoma in The Cowboys and the Indians opposite Gene Autry.

Following his long-running performance on The Lone Ranger, Silverheels started to pop up on several TV Westerns, including Wagon Train, Gunslinger, Rawhide, and Laramie. He appeared as three different characters on Daniel Boone, two different characters on The Virginian, and played Great Bear in two episodes of the comedy Western series Pistols 'n' Petticoats. But no role was as prominent for Silverheels as his time on The Lone Ranger. Unfortunately, Silverheels was often typecast in similar roles that echoed his work as Tonto, but he pressed on anyway. In the final years of his career, the actor even appeared in the original True Grit, playing a condemned man at hanging in his final uncredited appearance. Silverheels' last televised role was in an episode of Dusty Trails that aired after his final feature film, Santee, was released in 1973. He last appeared on camera as Jim Swift Hands in the short film A Different Drum a year later.

Jay Silverheels Was the First Native American Actor on The Hollywood Walk of Fame

Jay Silverheels never quite stepped out of the shadow of The Lone Ranger. Tonto followed him everywhere. On July 19, 1979, Silverheels was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame as the very first Native American actor to get his own star on Hollywood Boulevard. The following January, Silverheels died due to complications from pneumonia, but not before being honored for his dedication to the arts. In the late 1960s, Silverheels even founded the Indian Actors Workshop in Los Angeles, which was meant to help Native American artists unite within and break into the industry. Both on and off camera, Silverheels was always fighting for his people.

"My father was always striving to portray the Indian in a more positive light, with the exception of a few roles, both on and off the screen," Jay Silverheels, Jr. expressed when his father was posthumously honored at the Golden Boots Awards in 1990. "And we believe he accomplished this with great success, and again, this award commemorates that as well." On stage alongside members of Silverheels' family was none other than original Lone Ranger star Clayton Moore, who presented the honor to his co-stars' family. "I loved him very much as a sidekick, and a very faithful friend, and a man," Moore noted.

While we've come a far way from Tonto, with Native American-led shows such as Dark Winds and Reservation Dogs, and even others such as Longmire and Outer Range, honoring indigenous cultures and stories, there's no denying that the industry couldn't have come this far without Jay Silverheels at the helm. He's much more than a Western sidekick, Silverheels was also a driving force for change within an industry, fighting for credit, representation, and dignity among his peers.

The Lone Ranger television series can be streamed in part on Tubi and Fubo.

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