<Li> Mabel Phoebe Doxtater (mother) </Li> <Tr> <Th> Relatives </Th> <Td> Joyce Kesmarki (niece) </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> Silverheels was born Harold Preston Smith in Canada, on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, near Hagersville, Ontario . He was a grandson of Mohawk Chief A.G. Smith and Mary Wedge, and one of the 11 children of Captain Alexander George Edwin Smith, MC, Cayuga, and his wife Mabel Phoebe Doxtater, also a Mohawk . His father was wounded and decorated for service at The Somme and Ypres during World War I, and later was an adjutant training Polish - American recruits for the Blue Army (Poland) for service in France, at Niagara - on - the - Lake, Ontario . </P>

Who played tonto in the lone ranger after it became a tv show