Jack Elam
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- 13 November 1920 · Miami, Gila, Arizona, USA
- Died
- 20 October 2003
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.
Known for
Acting 117
- 2004Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade as (archive footage)
- 1997Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western as Self
- 1995Bonanza: Under Attack as Buckshot
- 1993Bonanza: The Return as Buckshot
- 1993Uninvited as Grady
- 1992Shadow Force as Tommy
- 1991Suburban Commando as Col. Dustin 'Dusty' McHowell
- 1990The Giant of Thunder Mountain as Hezekiah Crow
- 1990Big Bad John as Jake Calhoun
- 1988Where the Hell's That Gold?!!? as Boone
- 1988Once Upon a Texas Train as Jason Fitch
- 1987I Am Not a Freak as Self
- 1987Hawken's Breed as Tackett
- 1986Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills as Squires
- 1986The Aurora Encounter as Charlie
- 1984Scrooge's Rock 'N' Roll Christmas as Scrooge
- 1984Cannonball Run II as Doc
- 1983Lost as Mr. Newsom
- 1983Sacred Ground as Lum Witcher
- 1982Jinxed! as Otto
- 1981Skyward Christmas as Clay Haller
- 1981Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. as Troscliar Boudreaux
- 1981The Cannonball Run as Doctor
- 1981The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite as Seth Beaumont
- 1979The Villain as Avery Simpson
- 1979The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again as Big Mac
- 1978The Norseman as Death Dreamer
- 1978Hot Lead & Cold Feet as Rattlesnake
- 1978Lacy and the Mississippi Queen as Willie Red Fire
- 1978Huckleberry Finn as King
- 1977Grayeagle as Trapper Willis
- 1976Pony Express Rider as Crazy Charlie
- 1976The Winds of Autumn as J. Pete Hankins
- 1976The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe as Bitterroot
- 1976Hawmps! as Bad Jack Cutter
- 1976Creature from Black Lake as Joe Canton
- 1974A Knife for the Ladies as Jarrod (Sheriff)
- 1974Sidekicks as Boss
- 1974Shootout in a One-Dog Town as Handy
- 1973Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid as Alamosa Bill Kermit
- 1973The Red Pony as Granddad
- 1972The Daughters of Joshua Cabe as Bitterroot
- 1972The Last Escape of Billy the Kid as Pat Garrett
- 1971Hannie Caulder as Frank Clemens
- 1971The Last Rebel as Matt
- 1971Cat Ballou as Kid Sheleen
- 1971Support Your Local Gunfighter as Jug May
- 1970The Wild Country as Thompson
- 1970Plimpton! Shoot-Out at Rio Lobo as Self
- 1970Dirty Dingus Magee as John Wesley Hardin
- 1970Rio Lobo as Phillips
- 1970The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County as Kittrick
- 1969The Over the Hill Gang as Sheriff Clyde Barnes
- 1969Support Your Local Sheriff! as Jake
- 1969Ride a Northbound Horse as Sheriff
- 1968Once Upon a Time in the West as Frank's Gunman
- 1968Sartana Does Not Forgive as Slim Kovacs
- 1968Never a Dull Moment as Ace Williams
- 1968Firecreek as Norman
- 1967The Last Challenge as Ernest Scarnes
- 1967The Way West as Preacher Weatherby
- 1966The Night of the Grizzly as Hank
- 1966The Rare Breed as Deke Simons
- 19634 for Texas as Dobie
- 1961Pocketful of Miracles as Cheesecake
- 1961The Comancheros as Horseface (Comanchero)
- 1961The Last Sunset as Ed Hobbs
- 1960The Girl in Lovers Lane as Jesse
- 1960The Slowest Gun in the West as Ike Dalton
- 1959Edge of Eternity as Bill Ward
- 1958The Gun Runners as Arnold
- 1957Baby Face Nelson as Fatso Nagel
- 1957Dragoon Wells Massacre as Tioga
- 1957Night Passage as Shotgun
- 1957Gunfight at the O.K. Corral as Tom McLowery
- 1957Lure of the Swamp as Henry Bliss
- 1956Thunder Over Arizona as Slats Callahan
- 1956Pardners as Pete
- 1956Jubal as McCoy
- 1955Artists and Models as Ivan
- 1955Kismet as Hasan-Ben
- 1955The Man from Laramie as Chris Boldt
- 1955Wichita as Al
- 1955Moonfleet as Damen
- 1955Kiss Me Deadly as Charlie Max
- 1955Man Without a Star as Knife Murderer (uncredited)
- 1955Tarzan's Hidden Jungle as Burger
- 1954Vera Cruz as Tex
- 1954Cattle Queen of Montana as Yost
- 1954Princess of the Nile as Basra
- 1954Jubilee Trail as Whitey
- 1954The Far Country as Frank Newberry
- 1954Ride Clear of Diablo as Tim Lowerie
- 1953Appointment in Honduras as Castro
- 1953The Moonlighter as Slim
- 1953Gun Belt as Rusty Kolloway
- 1953Ride, Vaquero! as Barton
- 1953Count the Hours! as Max Verne
- 1952Kansas City Confidential as Pete Harris
- 1952The Ring as Harry Jackson
- 1952My Man and I as Celestino Garcia
- 1952Lure of the Wilderness as Dave Longden
- 1952High Noon as Charlie - Drunk in Jail (uncredited)
- 1952Montana Territory as Gimp
- 1952The Battle at Apache Pass as Mescal Jack
- 1952Rancho Notorious as Mort Geary
- 1952Finders Keepers as Eddie
- 1951The Bushwhackers as Cree
- 1951Rawhide as Tevis
- 1951Bird of Paradise as The Trader
- 1950American Guerrilla in the Philippines as The Speaker
- 1950High Lonesome as Smiling Man
- 1950A Ticket to Tomahawk as Fargo
- 1950One Way Street as Arnie (uncredited)
- 1950Key to the City as Councilman (uncredited)
- 1950The Sundowners as Earl Boyce
- 1949Wild Weed as Raymond - Henchman