06/26/2025
On July 21st, 1979 Jay Silverheels, became the first Indigenous Native to have a star commemorated on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Harold Jay Smith, was a full-blooded Mohawk, born May 26th,1912 on the Six Nations Indian Reservation in Ontario, Canada. He excelled in athletics, most notably in lacrosse. In 1931 he was among the first players chosen to play for the Toronto Tecumsehs, where he earned the nickname "Silverheels". And in 1997 he was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame as a veteran player. In 1938, he placed second in the middleweight class of the Golden Gloves tournament. This led to his working in motion pictures as an extra and stuntman in 1937. Billed variously as Harold Smith and Harry Smith, before taking the name Jay Silverheels. He appeared in low-budget features, mostly Westerns, and serials before landing his much loved and iconic role as Tonto on national tv from 1949 until 1957 along with two movies. In the early 1960s, he was a founding member of the Indian Actors Workshop, in Echo Park, Los Angeles. Where Native actors refine their skills. Today the workshop is still a well established institution. Silverheels died on March 5, 1980, from stroke, at age 67, in Calabasas, California. He was cremated at Chapel of the Pines Crematory, and his ashes were returned to the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario.
