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
- Bonanza: The Return as Buckshot
- Uninvited as Grady
1992
- Lucky Luke as Axel Ericson
- Shadow Force as Tommy
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
- Paradise as Skragg
- Once Upon a Texas Train as Jason Fitch
- Where the Hell's That Gold?!!? as Boone
1987
- J.J. Starbuck
- Hawken's Breed as Tackett
- I Am Not a Freak as Self
1986
- Easy Street
- Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills as Squires
- The Aurora Encounter as Charlie
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
- Father Murphy
- Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. as Troscliar Boudreaux
- The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite as Seth Beaumont
- Skyward Christmas as Clay Haller
1979
- The Villain as Avery Simpson
- $weepstake$
- The Sacketts as Ira Bigelow
- The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again as Big Mac
- Struck by Lightning as Frank
1978
- Black Beauty as Jonas McBride
- Hot Lead & Cold Feet as Rattlesnake
- The Norseman as Death Dreamer
- Lacy and the Mississippi Queen as Willie Red Fire
- Huckleberry Finn as King
1977
- Eight Is Enough
- How the West Was Won as Cully Madigan
- Grizzly Adams as Gus
- Grayeagle as Trapper Willis
1976
- The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe as Bitterroot
- The Winds of Autumn as J. Pete Hankins
- Creature from Black Lake as Joe Canton
- Pony Express Rider as Crazy Charlie
- Hawmps! as Bad Jack Cutter
1974
- Shootout in a One-Dog Town as Handy
- Sidekicks as Boss
- 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 Brian Keith Show
- Kung Fu as Marcus Taylor
- The Daughters of Joshua Cabe as Bitterroot
- The Last Escape of Billy the Kid as Pat Garrett
1971
- Alias Smith and Jones
- Nichols as Marcus A.F. Baxter
- Hannie Caulder as Frank Clemens
- Support Your Local Gunfighter as Jug May
- The Last Rebel as Matt
- Cat Ballou as Kid Sheleen
1970
- Rio Lobo as Phillips
- Dirty Dingus Magee as John Wesley Hardin
- The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County as Kittrick
- The Wild Country as Thompson
- 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
- Lancer
- The Outcasts
- Firecreek as Norman
- Never a Dull Moment as Ace Williams
- Sartana Does Not Forgive as Slim Kovacs
1967
- The High Chaparral as Macklin
- The Guns of Will Sonnett as Sam - Sheriff
- Cimarron Strip
- Hondo
- The Way West as Preacher Weatherby
- The Last Challenge as Ernest Scarnes
1966
- Tarzan
- The Rare Breed as Deke Simons
- The Night of the Grizzly as Hank
1965
- The Wild Wild West as Zack Slade
- F Troop
- The Legend of Jesse James as Deacon Smith
1964
- Daniel Boone as Petch
1963
- The Dakotas as Deputy J.D. Smith
- Temple Houston as George Taggart
- 4 for Texas as Dobie
1962
- The Virginian as Harve Yost
1961
- Ben Casey
- Target: The Corruptors!
- The Comancheros as Horseface (Comanchero)
- Gunslinger as Clint Gannet
- Pocketful of Miracles as Cheesecake
- The Last Sunset as Ed Hobbs
1960
- National Velvet as Black Barr
- Outlaws
- Stagecoach West as Clell
- 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
- Rawhide as Turkey Creek Jack Johnson
- The Untouchables as Jug Alverson
- Laramie as Parson Hawks
- The Rebel as Uncle Luce
- Mr. Lucky as Phil Bricker
- Tightrope
- Edge of Eternity as Bill Ward
1958
- The Rifleman as Sim Groder
- Lawman
- The Texan
- Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
- Bronco
- The Gun Runners as Arnold
1957
- Have Gun, Will Travel
- Zorro as Gomez (uncredited)
- Tales of Wells Fargo as Chris
- Richard Diamond, Private Detective as Danny Boy
- Sugarfoot as Toothy Thompson
- M Squad as Luke Morgan
- The Restless Gun as Tony Molinor
- Gunfight at the O.K. Corral as Tom McLowery
- Night Passage as Shotgun
- 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
- Screen Director's Playhouse as Shanks
- Frontier as Ness Fowler
- Kiss Me Deadly as Charlie Max
- Artists and Models as Ivan
- Moonfleet as Damen
- Wichita as Al
- Man Without a Star as Knife Murderer (uncredited)
- The Man from Laramie as Chris Boldt
- Kismet as Hasan-Ben
- Tarzan's Hidden Jungle as Burger
1954
- Studio 57
- The Wonderful World of Disney as Sheriff
- The Far Country as Frank Newberry
- Vera Cruz as Tex
- Ride Clear of Diablo as Tim Lowerie
- Princess of the Nile as Basra
- Cattle Queen of Montana as Yost
- Jubilee Trail as Whitey
1953
- Ride, Vaquero! as Barton
- Count the Hours! as Max Verne
- Gun Belt as Rusty Kolloway
- The Moonlighter as Slim
- Appointment in Honduras as Castro
1952
- Four Star Playhouse as Vic
- High Noon as Charlie - Drunk in Jail (uncredited)
- Mr. & Mrs. North
- Rancho Notorious as Mort Geary
- Kansas City Confidential as Pete Harris
- The Battle at Apache Pass as Mescal Jack
- My Man and I as Celestino Garcia
- Lure of the Wilderness as Dave Longden
- Finders Keepers as Eddie
- Montana Territory as Gimp
- The Ring as Harry Jackson
1951
- Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Lee Dineen
- Rawhide as Tevis
- The Bushwhackers as Cree
- Bird of Paradise as The Trader
1950
- A Ticket to Tomahawk as Fargo
- Key to the City as Councilman (uncredited)
- The Sundowners as Earl Boyce
- American Guerrilla in the Philippines as The Speaker
- One Way Street as Arnie (uncredited)
- High Lonesome as Smiling Man
1949
- The Lone Ranger as Reno Lawrence
- Wild Weed as Raymond - Henchman