Western Movie Villain Jack Elam Dies

Yahoo News ^ | 10/22/03 | Anthony Breznican - AP

[NormsRevenge]

LOS ANGELES - Jack Elam, a character actor and favorite Western villain who menaced good-guy cowboys with his crazy grin, wild eyes and remorseless gunslinging in films such as "Rawhide" and "Wichita," has died, a family friend said Tuesday.

Elam, who had been in declining health in recent years, died Monday afternoon at his home in Ashland, Ore., of unspecified illness, according to longtime friend Al Hassan.

Most biographies list the actor as 86 years old, but Hassan said he was actually 84, having lied about his age as a youngster to get work.

"He was cantankerous in a great way, in a funny way," Hassan said. "He smoked, drank, all that stuff. He lived one of the best lives I've ever seen."

Elam worked as a Hollywood accountant in the 1940s and had bit parts, usually uncredited, in the films "Trailin' West" (1949), "Quicksand" (1950) and "One Way Street" (1950).

He helped arrange financing for the Robert Preston (news) film "The Sundowners" in exchange for a larger role, as the husband of actress Cathy Downs. Then came a tough-guy part in 1951's "Rawhide," starring Tyrone Power (news), which helped make him a star.

Elam, born in Miami, Ariz., didn't always play the mean old hombre — he also found himself cast as dirty old men and harmless drunks, sometimes with a humorous bent in comedies like "Support Your Local Sheriff" and "The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County."

The actor's own cockeye was the result of a childhood fight in Phoenix. The way he told it, a fellow Boy Scout stabbed him in the left eye with a pencil during a scrape at a troop meeting. He remained blind in that eye, which wandered lazily around its socket.

Elam continued working into his later years in such films as "Suburban Commando" (1991) and the TV reunion shows "Bonanza: The Return" (1993) and "Bonanza: Under Fire" (1995), his last screen credit.

But he complained about the modern villains that evolved in the 1970s, who had shades of psychological problems behind their bad behavior. "The heavy today is usually not my kind of guy," he said in the Los Angeles Times in 1977.

"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," he added. "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."

[Lancey Howard]

Jack made every movie he was ever in better just by being in it.
God bless his family and may he rest in peace.

[Lancey Howard]

... wasn't one of his eyes glass? Or was that Sammy Davis Jr?

In The Sons of Katie Elder, it was Dean Martin. Remember him wearing the patch and auctioning off his eye in the bar? After collecting the money from the highest bidder, he lifted up the patch, laughed, and winked!

[PoorMuttly]

Muttly brokenhearted since last night.

Muttly was his dog. Then he loaned me to Mister Dastardly for further training...which believe me...I GOT !

He was so nice to young Muttly. He always shared his hip-flask with me. That is...after I stole something for him.

[husky ed]

My best line of his was:

"Well I'll be a suck-egg mule".

Can't remember which movie it was from, was think Support Your Local Sheriff or Gunfighter.

[rintense]

Exactly the movie I remember him from.

[bedolido]

oh yeah... whatever happened to the old hollywood? the new hollywood is a poor imitation of the last generation of movie stars and directors

[Captain Peter Blood]

There is another movie icon that will be missed.

[Manic_Episode]

I used to have a chihuahua that looked just like Jack.

RIP JE

[HanneyBean]

RIP, Jack.
I loved you as a child in Night of the Grizzly.

[Reagan Man]

Jack Elam acted in some of the best movies ever made and he was always entertaining. He'll be missed.

RIP Mr. Elam.

[ampat]

I guess my memory isn't so good. Did some checking. He played in "The Dakotas" with Chad Everett. Nevil Brand was a Texas Ranger with Peter Browne and William Smith in a tv show called "Laredo" later bundled together and titled Three for Texas.

[DCBryan1]

"Well I'll be a suck-egg mule".

Sad. He was one of the greatest....I'm glad he had a full and happy life. Rest in Peace Jack!

[Reverend Bob]

While slightly off topic, the best glass eye scene I've ever seen in a movie was the one Jimmy Stewart did in FOOL'S PARADE (an odd, underappreciated film that also starred George Kennedy, Kurt Russell, and Strother Martin).

The news on Elam is indeed sad. Easily one of the top five character actors of all time and a personal favorite of mine.

R.I.P., Jack.

[Revolting cat!]

[Revolting cat!]

[Revolting cat!]

[Graybeard58]

"Poster reminds me of the Clinton Esquire cover"

...I didn't see that cover but if you are talking about Hillary, he is much prettier than her.

[Doctor Stochastic]

"I'll be a suck-egg mule" was a Jack Elam line in "Rio Lobo" and also an Arthur Hunnicutt line in "Eldorado." Leigh Brackett scripted both movies.

Similarities abound with "Rio Bravo" too, the calm gunfighter (Wayne), the old geezer (Brennan, Elam, Hunnicutt), the gambler's widow (Dickinson, Holt, O'Neill)

"The Big Sleep" (the one with Humphrey Bogart) also has a parallel scene where the bad guys try to lure someone through a door (also scripted by Leigh Brackett and directed by Howard Hawks.) From Eddy Mars to Milt & Pedro.

[Doctor Stochastic]

He got shot early in "Four for Texas" too.

[50sDad]

At the time of the impeachment (!) Esquire has an interview with him, and the cover art is him sitting on a stool, legs wide, crotch at camera height, and that smarmy smile on his face. Dirtbag.