Jack Elam
Photoplayd Industry Rating
Not enough rated films yet to compute a weighted score.
Roles are weighted by involvement: director 1.0, screenwriter 0.7, lead 0.8, supporting 0.4, crew 0.1.
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
Credits
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
as Frank's Gunman
High Noon (1952)
as Charlie - Drunk in Jail (uncredited)
The Cannonball Run (1981)
as Doctor
Cannonball Run II (1984)
as Doc
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
as Tom McLowery
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
as Alamosa Bill Kermit
Hannie Caulder (1971)
as Frank Clemens
The Man from Laramie (1955)
as Chris Boldt
The Way West (1967)
as Preacher Weatherby
Rio Lobo (1970)
as Phillips
The Comancheros (1961)
as Horseface (Comanchero)
Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
as Cheesecake
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
as Charlie Max
Artists and Models (1955)
as Ivan
Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)
as Tioga
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)
as Jake
Kansas City Confidential (1952)
as Pete Harris
The Rare Breed (1966)
as Deke Simons
Jubal (1956)
as McCoy
The Last Sunset (1961)
as Ed Hobbs
Grayeagle (1977)
as Trapper Willis
Night Passage (1957)
as Shotgun
The Night of the Grizzly (1966)
as Hank
The Far Country (1954)
as Frank Newberry
Princess of the Nile (1954)
as Basra
Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)
as Jason Fitch
4 for Texas (1963)
as Dobie
Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
as Jug May
Baby Face Nelson (1957)
as Fatso Nagel
Bird of Paradise (1951)
as The Trader
Firecreek (1968)
as Norman
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955)
as Burger
Hot Lead & Cold Feet (1978)
as Rattlesnake
The Villain (1979)
as Avery Simpson
A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950)
as Fargo
Moonfleet (1955)
as Damen
Ride Clear of Diablo (1954)
as Tim Lowerie
Wichita (1955)
as Al
The Last Challenge (1967)
as Ernest Scarnes
Man Without a Star (1955)
as Knife Murderer (uncredited)
Suburban Commando (1991)
as Col. Dustin 'Dusty' McHowell
Cattle Queen of Montana (1954)
as Yost
The Over the Hill Gang (1969)
as Sheriff Clyde Barnes
Rawhide (1951)
as Tevis
The Gun Runners (1958)
as Arnold
The Wild Country (1970)
as Thompson
Hawken's Breed (1987)
as Tackett
Kismet (1955)
as Hasan-Ben
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979)
as Big Mac
Scrooge's Rock 'N' Roll Christmas (1984)
as Scrooge
Huckleberry Finn (1978)
as King
Dirty Dingus Magee (1970)
as John Wesley Hardin
The Norseman (1978)
as Death Dreamer
Creature from Black Lake (1976)
as Joe Canton
The Red Pony (1973)
as Granddad
American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950)
as The Speaker
Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. (1981)
as Troscliar Boudreaux
Gun Belt (1953)
as Rusty Kolloway
Count the Hours! (1953)
as Max Verne
One Way Street (1950)
as Arnie (uncredited)
Edge of Eternity (1959)
as Bill Ward
Pardners (1956)
as Pete
Appointment in Honduras (1953)
as Castro
Ride, Vaquero! (1953)
as Barton
Bonanza: Under Attack (1995)
as Buckshot
My Man and I (1952)
as Celestino Garcia
Key to the City (1950)
as Councilman (uncredited)
Bonanza: The Return (1993)
as Buckshot
Rancho Notorious (1952)
as Mort Geary
Sidekicks (1974)
as Boss
Vera Cruz (1954)
as Tex
Never a Dull Moment (1968)
as Ace Williams
I Am Not a Freak (1987)
as Self
Sartana Does Not Forgive (1968)
as Slim Kovacs
Jinxed! (1982)
as Otto
The Bushwhackers (1951)
as Cree
The Girl in Lovers Lane (1960)
as Jesse
Where the Hell's That Gold?!!? (1988)
as Boone
The Winds of Autumn (1976)
as J. Pete Hankins
The Aurora Encounter (1986)
as Charlie
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County (1970)
as Kittrick
Skyward Christmas (1981)
as Clay Haller
Thunder Over Arizona (1956)
as Slats Callahan
Lure of the Wilderness (1952)
as Dave Longden
Wild Weed (1949)
as Raymond - Henchman
The Battle at Apache Pass (1952)
as Mescal Jack
The Moonlighter (1953)
as Slim
The Giant of Thunder Mountain (1990)
as Hezekiah Crow
The Slowest Gun in the West (1960)
as Ike Dalton
Hawmps! (1976)
as Bad Jack Cutter
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western (1997)
as Self
A Knife for the Ladies (1974)
as Jarrod (Sheriff)
Lacy and the Mississippi Queen (1978)
as Willie Red Fire
Sacred Ground (1983)
as Lum Witcher
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe (1976)
as Bitterroot
The Ring (1952)
as Harry Jackson
Pony Express Rider (1976)
as Crazy Charlie
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe (1972)
as Bitterroot
Jubilee Trail (1954)
as Whitey
Lure of the Swamp (1957)
as Henry Bliss
Big Bad John (1990)
as Jake Calhoun
Ride a Northbound Horse (1969)
as Sheriff
Shootout in a One-Dog Town (1974)
as Handy
High Lonesome (1950)
as Smiling Man
Montana Territory (1952)
as Gimp
The Last Rebel (1971)
as Matt
Finders Keepers (1952)
as Eddie
Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills (1986)
as Squires
Lost (1983)
as Mr. Newsom
Plimpton! Shoot-Out at Rio Lobo (1970)
as Self
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite (1981)
as Seth Beaumont
The Sundowners (1950)
as Earl Boyce
Shadow Force (1992)
as Tommy
Cat Ballou (1971)
as Kid Sheleen
Uninvited (1993)
as Grady
The Last Escape of Billy the Kid (1972)
as Pat Garrett