Jack Elam
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
Have Gun, Will Travel
Have Gun, Will Travel
Arnold Shaffner
The Twilight Zone
Avery
The Lone Ranger
Reno Lawrence
The Untouchables
Jug Alverson
The Untouchables
Nick Bravo
Bonanza
Dodie Hoad
Bonanza
Honest John
Bonanza
Buford Buckalew
The Rifleman
Home Improvement
Hick Peterson
Four Star Playhouse
Vic
Tales of Wells Fargo
Chris
Alias Smith and Jones
The High Chaparral
Macklin
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Hock Ellis
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Little Jimmy Lehigh
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Stage Driver Cass
The Wonderful World of Disney
Sheriff
Daniel Boone
Petch
Zorro
Gomez (uncredited)
The Virginian
Harve Yost
Lawman
Lawman
Herm Forrest
Lawman
Paul Henry
Eight Is Enough
Gunsmoke
Dolph Quince
Gunsmoke
Steed
Gunsmoke
Clint Dodie
Gunsmoke
Ben
Gunsmoke
Hector
Gunsmoke
Specter
Gunsmoke
Del Ordman
Gunsmoke
Sam Band
Gunsmoke
Jim Barrett
Gunsmoke
William Prange
Gunsmoke
Lucas Murdoch
Gunsmoke
Titus Spangler
Gunsmoke
Pierre Audubon
Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Calhoun Durango
Ben Casey
M Squad
Luke Morgan
Simon & Simon
Rawhide
Turkey Creek Jack Johnson
The Guns of Will Sonnett
Sam - Sheriff
How the West Was Won
Cully Madigan
Once Upon a Time in the West
Frank's Gunman
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Sugarfoot
Toothy Thompson
Bronco
Mr. & Mrs. North
The Brian Keith Show
The Texan
The Texan
Luke Watson
The Restless Gun
Tony Molinor
Screen Director's Playhouse
Shanks
Tarzan
The Rebel
Uncle Luce
Target: The Corruptors!
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Danny Boy
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Perk Butler
Grizzly Adams
Lancer
Outlaws
The Legend of Jesse James
Deacon Smith
National Velvet
Black Barr
J.J. Starbuck
Cimarron Strip
Lucky Luke
Axel Ericson
The Outcasts
Stagecoach West
Clell
Mr. Lucky
Phil Bricker
The Dakotas
Deputy J.D. Smith
The Comancheros
Horseface (Comanchero)
Tightrope
F Troop
Rio Lobo
Phillips
High Noon
Charlie - Drunk in Jail (uncredited)
Hondo
The Way West
Preacher Weatherby
Support Your Local Gunfighter
Jug May
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Lee Dineen
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Halleck
Artists and Models
Ivan
Nichols
Marcus A.F. Baxter
Hannie Caulder
Frank Clemens
The Last Sunset
Ed Hobbs
Rancho Notorious
Mort Geary
The Rare Breed
Deke Simons
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again
Big Mac
Frontier
Ness Fowler
Temple Houston
George Taggart
Kansas City Confidential
Pete Harris
Man Without a Star
Knife Murderer (uncredited)
Count the Hours!
Max Verne
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
(archive footage)
Pardners
Pete
Jubal
McCoy
The Last Challenge
Ernest Scarnes
The Over the Hill Gang
Sheriff Clyde Barnes
The Cannonball Run
Doctor
Easy Street
Cattle Queen of Montana
Yost
Night Passage
Shotgun
The Night of the Grizzly
Hank
Hot Lead & Cold Feet
Rattlesnake
Father Murphy
Rawhide
Tevis
Struck by Lightning
Frank
Bonanza: The Return
Buckshot
Once Upon a Texas Train
Jason Fitch
Kismet
Hasan-Ben
Baby Face Nelson
Fatso Nagel
Dirty Dingus Magee
John Wesley Hardin
Firecreek
Norman
The Gun Runners
Arnold
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe
Bitterroot
Jinxed!
Otto
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
Self
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County
Kittrick
Paradise
Skragg
The Slowest Gun in the West
Ike Dalton
The Wild Country
Thompson
Never a Dull Moment
Ace Williams
Ride, Vaquero!
Barton
Moonfleet
Damen
Detective in the House
Key to the City
Councilman (uncredited)
The Giant of Thunder Mountain
Hezekiah Crow
Lacy and the Mississippi Queen
Willie Red Fire
Bonanza: Under Attack
Buckshot
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Tom McLowery
Cannonball Run II
Doc
Shootout in a One-Dog Town
Handy
Huckleberry Finn
King
Edge of Eternity
Bill Ward
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe
Bitterroot
Hawmps!
Bad Jack Cutter
One Way Street
Arnie (uncredited)
Ride Clear of Diablo
Tim Lowerie
The Norseman
Death Dreamer
Soggy Bottom, U.S.A.
Troscliar Boudreaux
Support Your Local Sheriff!
Jake
The Battle at Apache Pass
Mescal Jack
Pocketful of Miracles
Cheesecake
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
Alamosa Bill Kermit
The Sacketts
Ira Bigelow
Appointment in Honduras
Castro
Thunder Over Arizona
Slats Callahan
Wild Weed
Raymond - Henchman
Gun Belt
Rusty Kolloway
Black Beauty
Jonas McBride
The Man from Laramie
Chris Boldt
Lost
Mr. Newsom
Creature from Black Lake
Joe Canton
The Red Pony
Granddad
Princess of the Nile
Basra
Pony Express Rider
Crazy Charlie
Skyward Christmas
Clay Haller
Where the Hell's That Gold?!!?
Boone
Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills
Squires
The Sundowners
Earl Boyce
The Ring
Harry Jackson
The Moonlighter
Slim
Montana Territory
Gimp
Jubilee Trail
Whitey
Sidekicks
Boss
Vera Cruz
Tex
Big Bad John
Jake Calhoun
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite
Seth Beaumont
Shadow Force
Tommy
Cat Ballou
Kid Sheleen
High Lonesome
Smiling Man
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle
Burger
American Guerrilla in the Philippines
The Speaker
Bird of Paradise
The Trader
Lure of the Swamp
Henry Bliss
Dragoon Wells Massacre
Tioga
The Bushwhackers
Cree
The Far Country
Frank Newberry
Finders Keepers
Eddie
Lure of the Wilderness
Dave Longden
The Silent Partner
Shanks
Sacred Ground
Lum Witcher
Ride a Northbound Horse
Sheriff
Kiss Me Deadly
Charlie Max
The Winds of Autumn
J. Pete Hankins
Kung Fu
Marcus Taylor
Grayeagle
Trapper Willis
A Knife for the Ladies
Jarrod (Sheriff)
Suburban Commando
Col. Dustin 'Dusty' McHowell
Wichita
Al
The Girl in Lovers Lane
Jesse
Plimpton! Shoot-Out at Rio Lobo
Self
The Villain
Avery Simpson
My Man and I
Celestino Garcia
Sartana Does Not Forgive
Slim Kovacs
Hawken's Breed
Tackett
4 for Texas
Dobie
Scrooge's Rock 'N' Roll Christmas
Scrooge
The Last Rebel
Matt
A Ticket to Tomahawk
Fargo
I Am Not a Freak
Self
The Aurora Encounter
Charlie
Uninvited
Grady
The Last Escape of Billy the Kid
Pat Garrett