Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersIndependent Spirit AwardsWomen's History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Jack Elam(1920-2003)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Jack Elam
Lucky Luke: Ghost Train
Play trailer2:10
Il treno fantasma (1992)
7 Videos
99+ Photos
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.
BornNovember 13, 1920
DiedOctober 20, 2003(82)
BornNovember 13, 1920
DiedOctober 20, 2003(82)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 1 win

Photos129

Jack Elam and James Garner in Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
Jack Elam and James Garner in Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
Jack Elam in Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
Jack Elam and Ben Cooper in Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
Jack Elam and James Garner in Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
Jack Elam and James Garner in Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
Jack Elam and James Garner in Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
Jack Elam and James Garner in Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
James Stewart, Brandon De Wilde, Jack Elam, Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, Frank Chase, Chuck Roberson, Elaine Stewart, Robert J. Wilke, and Henry Wills in Night Passage (1957)
Jack Elam, Dan Duryea, Elaine Stewart, and Robert J. Wilke in Night Passage (1957)
Jack Elam, Dan Duryea, Chuck Roberson, and Henry Wills in Night Passage (1957)
Jack Elam in Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Known for

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Once Upon a Time in the West
8.5
  • Snaky - Member of Frank's Gang
  • 1968
Adrienne Barbeau, Farrah Fawcett, Roger Moore, Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. in The Cannonball Run (1981)
The Cannonball Run
6.2
  • Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing
  • 1981
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)
Support Your Local Sheriff!
7.5
  • Jake
  • 1969
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Kiss Me Deadly
7.5
  • Charlie Max
  • 1955

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Lonesome Dove: The Series (1994)
    Lonesome Dove: The Series
    • Curtis
    • TV Mini Series
    • 1994–1995
  • Bonanza: Under Attack (1995)
    Bonanza: Under Attack
    • Buckshot
    • TV Movie
    • 1995
  • Uninvited (1993)
    Uninvited
    • Grady
    • 1993
  • Bonanza: The Return (1993)
    Bonanza: The Return
    • Buckshot
    • TV Movie
    • 1993
  • Dirk Benedict and Lise Cutter in Shadow Force (1992)
    Shadow Force
    • Tommy
    • 1992
  • Dominic Barto, Ron Carey, Bo Greigh, and Fritz Sperberg in Lucky Luke (1992)
    Lucky Luke
    • Axel Ericson
    • TV Series
    • 1992
  • Tim Allen, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Patricia Richardson, Zachery Ty Bryan, Earl Hindman, and Taran Noah Smith in Home Improvement (1991)
    Home Improvement
    • Hick Peterson
    • TV Series
    • 1992
  • Christopher Lloyd, Shelley Duvall, Hulk Hogan, Michael Faustino, and Laura Mooney in Suburban Commando (1991)
    Suburban Commando
    • Col. Dustin 'Dusty' McHowell
    • 1991
  • The Giant of Thunder Mountain (1990)
    The Giant of Thunder Mountain
    • Hezekiah Crow
    • 1990
  • Big Bad John (1990)
    Big Bad John
    • Jake Calhoun
    • 1990
  • Paradise (1988)
    Paradise
    • Skragg
    • TV Series
    • 1989
  • Emmanuel Lewis in Webster (1983)
    Webster
    • Dusty
    • TV Series
    • 1985–1989
  • Hawken's Breed (1988)
    Hawken's Breed
    • Tackett
    • 1988
  • Delta Burke and Willie Nelson in Where the Hell's That Gold?!!? (1988)
    Where the Hell's That Gold?!!?
    • Boone
    • TV Movie
    • 1988
  • Dale Robertson and Ben Vereen in J.J. Starbuck (1987)
    J.J. Starbuck
    • Esco Tokay
    • TV Series
    • 1988

Soundtrack

  • James Cromwell, Loni Anderson, Jack Elam, Dana Ivey, and Lee Weaver in Easy Street (1986)
    Easy Street
    • performer: "Blue Moon"
    • TV Series
    • 1986
  • Gunsmoke (1955)
    Gunsmoke
    • performer: "Bringing in the Sheaves" (uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 1969
  • Jack Elam, Chad Everett, Michael Greene, and Larry Ward in The Dakotas (1962)
    The Dakotas
    • performer: "Old-Time Religion" (uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 1962–1963
  • Mackenzie's Raiders (1958)
    Mackenzie's Raiders
    • performer: "Across the Rio Grande" (uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 1959

Videos7

Official Trailer
Trailer 1:00
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:29
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:25
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:14
Trailer
Once Upon A Time In The West
Trailer 3:02
Once Upon A Time In The West
The Dakotas
Trailer 0:20
The Dakotas
Lucky Luke: Ghost Train
Trailer 2:10
Lucky Luke: Ghost Train

Personal details

Edit
  • Height
    • 6′ (1.83 m)
  • Born
    • November 13, 1920
    • Miami, Arizona, USA
  • Died
    • October 20, 2003
    • Ashland, Oregon, USA(congestive heart failure)
  • Spouses
      Margaret M. JennisonAugust 23, 1961 - October 20, 2003 (his death, 1 child)
  • Parents
      Alice Amelia Kriby
  • Other works
    Unsold pilot: Starred (as "Kid Sheleen") in a western pilot called "Cat Ballou", based on the film Cat Ballou (1965).
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Print Biography
    • 1 Interview
    • 1 Article

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Made a career with his eerie, immobile eye, which was caused by a fight with another kid at age 12. It happened during a Boy Scout meeting when another boy took a pencil, threw it, and it jabbed his eyeball.
  • Quotes
    The heavy today is usually not my kind of guy. In the old days, Rory Calhoun was the hero because he was the hero and I was the heavy because I was the heavy - and nobody cared what my problem was. And I didn't either. I robbed the bank because I wanted the money. I've played all kinds of weirdos but I've never done the quiet, sick type. I never had a problem - other than the fact I was just bad.
  • Trademarks
      His bulging eyes and unmoving left eye

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.