Jack Elam
Acting
Born 1920-11-13 · Miami, Gila, Arizona, USA
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.
Filmography
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
Jul 27, 1997
Bonanza: Under Attack
Jan 15, 1995
Bonanza: The Return
Nov 24, 1993
Uninvited
Jan 1, 1993
Shadow Force
Dec 1, 1992
Suburban Commando
Oct 4, 1991
The Giant of Thunder Mountain
Dec 25, 1990
Big Bad John
Feb 1, 1990
Where the Hell's That Gold?!!?
Nov 13, 1988
Once Upon a Texas Train
Oct 12, 1988
I Am Not a Freak
Nov 1, 1987
Hawken's Breed
Jan 1, 1987
Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills
Nov 15, 1986
The Aurora Encounter
Aug 1, 1986
Scrooge's Rock 'N' Roll Christmas
Dec 23, 1984
Cannonball Run II
Jun 29, 1984
Lost
Oct 22, 1983
Sacred Ground
Mar 11, 1983
Jinxed!
Oct 22, 1982
Skyward Christmas
Dec 3, 1981
Soggy Bottom, U.S.A.
Oct 9, 1981
The Cannonball Run
Jun 19, 1981
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite
May 21, 1981
The Villain
Jul 26, 1979
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again
Jun 27, 1979
The Norseman
Oct 5, 1978
Hot Lead & Cold Feet
Jul 5, 1978
Lacy and the Mississippi Queen
May 17, 1978
Huckleberry Finn
Mar 31, 1978
Grayeagle
Dec 28, 1977