Jack Elam
Born: 1920-11-13 in Miami, Gila, Arizona, USA
Died: 2003-10-20
Known For: Acting
Biography
Colorful American character actor equally adept at vicious killers or grizzled sidekicks. As a child he worked in the cotton fields. He attended Santa Monica Junior College in California and subsequently became an accountant and, at one time, manager of the Bel Air Hotel. Elam got his first movie job by trading his accounting services for a role. In short time he became one of the most memorable supporting players in Hollywood, thanks not only to his near-demented screen persona but also to an out-of-kilter left eye, sightless from a childhood fight. He appeared with great aplomb in Westerns and gangster films alike, and in later years played to wonderful effect in comedic roles.
Filmography
1997
1995
- Bonanza: Under Attack as Buckshot
1993
- Uninvited as Grady
- Bonanza: The Return as Buckshot
1992
- Shadow Force as Tommy
- Lucky Luke as Axel Ericson
1991
- Home Improvement as Hick Peterson
- Suburban Commando as Col. Dustin 'Dusty' McHowell
1990
- The Giant of Thunder Mountain as Hezekiah Crow
- Big Bad John as Jake Calhoun
1988
- Once Upon a Texas Train as Jason Fitch
- Paradise as Skragg
- Where the Hell's That Gold?!!? as Boone
1987
- Hawken's Breed as Tackett
- J.J. Starbuck
- I Am Not a Freak as Self
1986
- Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills as Squires
- The Aurora Encounter as Charlie
- Easy Street
1984
- Cannonball Run II as Doc
- Scrooge's Rock 'N' Roll Christmas as Scrooge
1983
- Sacred Ground as Lum Witcher
- Lost as Mr. Newsom
1982
- Jinxed! as Otto
1981
- Simon & Simon
- The Cannonball Run as Doctor
- Skyward Christmas as Clay Haller
- Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. as Troscliar Boudreaux
- Father Murphy
- The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite as Seth Beaumont
1979
- The Villain as Avery Simpson
- The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again as Big Mac
- The Sacketts as Ira Bigelow
- $weepstake$
- Struck by Lightning as Frank
1978
- Hot Lead & Cold Feet as Rattlesnake
- The Norseman as Death Dreamer
- Lacy and the Mississippi Queen as Willie Red Fire
- Huckleberry Finn as King
- Black Beauty as Jonas McBride
1977
- Eight Is Enough
- How the West Was Won as Cully Madigan
- Grizzly Adams as Gus
- Grayeagle as Trapper Willis
1976
- Hawmps! as Bad Jack Cutter
- The Winds of Autumn as J. Pete Hankins
- Creature from Black Lake as Joe Canton
- Pony Express Rider as Crazy Charlie
- The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe as Bitterroot
1974
- Sidekicks as Boss
- Shootout in a One-Dog Town as Handy
- A Knife for the Ladies as Jarrod (Sheriff)
1973
- Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid as Alamosa Bill Kermit
- The Red Pony as Granddad
1972
- The Daughters of Joshua Cabe as Bitterroot
- The Brian Keith Show
- The Last Escape of Billy the Kid as Pat Garrett
- Kung Fu as Marcus Taylor
1971
- Alias Smith and Jones
- Cat Ballou as Kid Sheleen
- Nichols as Marcus A.F. Baxter
- Hannie Caulder as Frank Clemens
- Support Your Local Gunfighter as Jug May
- The Last Rebel as Matt
1970
- Rio Lobo as Phillips
- The Wild Country as Thompson
- Dirty Dingus Magee as John Wesley Hardin
- The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County as Kittrick
- Plimpton! Shoot-Out at Rio Lobo as Self
1969
- Support Your Local Sheriff! as Jake
- The Over the Hill Gang as Sheriff Clyde Barnes
- Ride a Northbound Horse as Sheriff
1968
- Once Upon a Time in the West as Frank's Gunman
- Sartana Does Not Forgive as Slim Kovacs
- Lancer
- The Outcasts
- Firecreek as Norman
- Never a Dull Moment as Ace Williams
1967
- The High Chaparral as Macklin
- The Guns of Will Sonnett as Sam - Sheriff
- Cimarron Strip
- The Way West as Preacher Weatherby
- Hondo
- The Last Challenge as Ernest Scarnes
1966
- Tarzan
- The Night of the Grizzly as Hank
- The Rare Breed as Deke Simons
1965
- The Wild Wild West as Zack Slade
- F Troop
- The Legend of Jesse James as Deacon Smith
1964
- Daniel Boone as Petch
1963
- 4 for Texas as Dobie
- The Dakotas as Deputy J.D. Smith
- Temple Houston as George Taggart
1962
- The Virginian as Harve Yost
1961
- Ben Casey
- The Comancheros as Horseface (Comanchero)
- The Last Sunset as Ed Hobbs
- Pocketful of Miracles as Cheesecake
- Target: The Corruptors!
- Gunslinger as Clint Gannet
1960
- Outlaws
- Stagecoach West as Clell
- National Velvet as Black Barr
- The Slowest Gun in the West as Ike Dalton
- The Girl in Lovers Lane as Jesse
1959
- Bonanza as Dodie Hoad
- The Twilight Zone as Avery
- The Untouchables as Jug Alverson
- Rawhide as Turkey Creek Jack Johnson
- Laramie as Parson Hawks
- The Rebel as Uncle Luce
- Mr. Lucky as Phil Bricker
- Tightrope
- Edge of Eternity as Bill Ward
1958
1957
- Have Gun, Will Travel
- Zorro as Gomez (uncredited)
- Tales of Wells Fargo as Chris
- Sugarfoot as Toothy Thompson
- M Squad as Luke Morgan
- Richard Diamond, Private Detective as Danny Boy
- The Restless Gun as Tony Molinor
- Night Passage as Shotgun
- Gunfight at the O.K. Corral as Tom McLowery
- Baby Face Nelson as Fatso Nagel
- Dragoon Wells Massacre as Tioga
- Lure of the Swamp as Henry Bliss
1956
- Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre as Hock Ellis
- Jubal as McCoy
- Pardners as Pete
- Thunder Over Arizona as Slats Callahan
1955
- Cheyenne
- Gunsmoke as Dolph Quince
- Wichita as Al
- Moonfleet as Damen
- Screen Director's Playhouse as Shanks
- The Man from Laramie as Chris Boldt
- Man Without a Star as Knife Murderer (uncredited)
- Frontier as Ness Fowler
- Tarzan's Hidden Jungle as Burger
- Kismet as Hasan-Ben
- Kiss Me Deadly as Charlie Max
- Artists and Models as Ivan
1954
- Vera Cruz as Tex
- Jubilee Trail as Whitey
- Cattle Queen of Montana as Yost
- Ride Clear of Diablo as Tim Lowerie
- Princess of the Nile as Basra
- The Far Country as Frank Newberry
- The Wonderful World of Disney as Sheriff
1953
- The Moonlighter as Slim
- Ride, Vaquero! as Barton
- Appointment in Honduras as Castro
- Gun Belt as Rusty Kolloway
- Count the Hours! as Max Verne
1952
- Four Star Playhouse as Vic
- High Noon as Charlie - Drunk in Jail (uncredited)
- Montana Territory as Gimp
- Mr. & Mrs. North
- Rancho Notorious as Mort Geary
- Lure of the Wilderness as Dave Longden
- The Battle at Apache Pass as Mescal Jack
- My Man and I as Celestino Garcia
- Kansas City Confidential as Pete Harris
- Finders Keepers as Eddie
- The Ring as Harry Jackson
1951
- The Bushwhackers as Cree
- Rawhide as Tevis
- Bird of Paradise as The Trader
- Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Lee Dineen
1950
- High Lonesome as Smiling Man
- Key to the City as Councilman (uncredited)
- American Guerrilla in the Philippines as The Speaker
- A Ticket to Tomahawk as Fargo
- One Way Street as Arnie (uncredited)
- The Sundowners as Earl Boyce
1949
- The Lone Ranger as Reno Lawrence
- Wild Weed as Raymond - Henchman