<Tr> <Th> Television </Th> <Td> Tonto in The Lone Ranger (TV series) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Spouse (s) </Th> <Td> Bobbi (first wife) 1 child, Mary Diroma (1945 - 1980; his death) 4 children </Td> </Tr> <P> Jay Silverheels (born Harold Preston Smith, May 26, 1912--March 5, 1980) was a Mohawk Canadian actor and athlete . He was well known for his role as Tonto, the faithful Indian companion of the Lone Ranger in the long - running American western television series, The Lone Ranger . </P> <P> Jay Silverheels was born Harold Preston Smith on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, near Hagersville, Ontario, Canada, one of 11 children grandson of Mohawk Chief A.G. Smith and Mary Wedge, and son of Captain Alexander George Edwin Smith, MC, Cayuga, and mother, Mabel Phoebe Doxtater, Mohawk . His father, Captain A.G.E. Smith, was wounded and decorated for service at The Somme, and Ypres in World War I, and later as Adjutant training Polish - American recruits for the Blue Army (Poland) for service in France, at Niagara - on - the - Lake, Ontario, prior to America's entry into the war . </P>

Who played tonto in the original lone ranger series