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
The Ring
1952
Once Upon a Time in the West
1968
Finders Keepers
1952
Lost
1983
The Sundowners
1950
Never a Dull Moment
1968
Ride, Vaquero!
1953
Gun Belt
1953
Huckleberry Finn
1978
Artists and Models
1955
Rancho Notorious
1952
High Noon
1952
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
1957
Kismet
1955
The Cannonball Run
1981
Kansas City Confidential
1952
Rio Lobo
1970
Hannie Caulder
1971
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
1973
Kiss Me Deadly
1955
Suburban Commando
1991
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe
1976
Cannonball Run II
1984
Jubal
1956
Grayeagle
1977
The Far Country
1954
The Way West
1967
Vera Cruz
1954
The Villain
1979
Firecreek
1968
The Rare Breed
1966
The Comancheros
1961
Man Without a Star
1955
The Last Sunset
1961
The Man from Laramie
1955
Support Your Local Sheriff!
1969
Sidekicks
1974
Pocketful of Miracles
1961
4 for Texas
1963
The Night of the Grizzly
1966