Facts About Jay Silverheels

How do you describe his role with the Lone Ranger?

Photo by TopSphere Media on Unsplash

When I was a kid, the big three of TV cowboys was, the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. All three had a sidekick. And of those sidekicks, to me, Tonto was the most noteworthy one. And of the two screen Tontos, I’ll take Jay Silverheels over Johnny Depp.

I saw when the “Lone Ranger” movie came out, I noticed it came out to terrible reviews. Undeterred, I eventually watched the movie when it came out on cable. I figured, after all, how bad can it be? It turned out worse than I could have possibly imagined. But I digress from the purpose of this piece, which is to talk about Jay Silverheels. So, with no further ado, here are some things you probably didn’t know about Jay Silverheels.

1: Silverheels was an excellent athlete, excelling in boxing and lacrosse.

With those skills, you would have thought the transition to ice hockey would have been pretty easy. Wait, being told he actually played hockey.

2: He was discovered by Joe E Brown when he was playing lacrosse in LA in 1937. Silverheels impressed Brown with his athleticism and Brown encouraged Silverheels to take a screen test.