Jack Elam
Biography
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
Top 40 Movies
Night Passage
1957
Once Upon a Time in the West
1968
Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills
1986
The Winds of Autumn
1976
The Man from Laramie
1955
The Ring
1952
Lost
1983
The Sundowners
1950
Finders Keepers
1952
Ride, Vaquero!
1953
Suburban Commando
1991
The Last Escape of Billy the Kid
1972
A Ticket to Tomahawk
1950
Support Your Local Gunfighter
1971
Never a Dull Moment
1968
Cattle Queen of Montana
1954
Gun Belt
1953
Rancho Notorious
1952
Soggy Bottom, U.S.A.
1981
Artists and Models
1955
High Noon
1952
The Cannonball Run
1981
Kismet
1955
Huckleberry Finn
1978
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
1973
Hannie Caulder
1971
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
1957
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe
1972
Cannonball Run II
1984
Kansas City Confidential
1952
Rio Lobo
1970
Kiss Me Deadly
1955
American Guerrilla in the Philippines
1950
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe
1976
Lacy and the Mississippi Queen
1978
Once Upon a Texas Train
1988
The Way West
1967
Where the Hell's That Gold?!!?
1988
Support Your Local Sheriff!
1969
Vera Cruz
1954