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.
Known For
Once Upon a Time in the West
(1968)
Frank's Gunman
High Noon
(1952)
Charlie - Drunk in Jail (uncredited)
Rio Lobo
(1970)
Phillips
Kansas City Confidential
(1952)
Pete Harris
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
(1957)
Tom McLowery
The Cannonball Run
(1981)
Doctor
Cannonball Run II
(1984)
Doc
Vera Cruz
(1954)
Tex
Pocketful of Miracles
(1961)
Cheesecake
Kiss Me Deadly
(1955)
Charlie Max
Rancho Notorious
(1952)
Mort Geary
The Comancheros
(1961)
Horseface (Comanchero)
Support Your Local Gunfighter
(1971)
Jug May
Suburban Commando
(1991)
Col. Dustin 'Dusty' McHowell
Hannie Caulder
(1971)
Frank Clemens
The Man from Laramie
(1955)
Chris Boldt
Full Filmography
Acting
Wild Weed
(1949)
Raymond - Henchman
The Sundowners
(1950)
Earl Boyce
American Guerrilla in the Philippines
(1950)
The Speaker
High Lonesome
(1950)
Smiling Man
Key to the City
(1950)
Councilman (uncredited)
A Ticket to Tomahawk
(1950)
Fargo
One Way Street
(1950)
Gangster
Rawhide
(1951)
Tevis
Bird of Paradise
(1951)
The Trader
The Bushwhackers
(1951)
Cree
High Noon
(1952)
Charlie - Drunk in Jail (uncredited)
Finders Keepers
(1952)
Eddie
Kansas City Confidential
(1952)
Pete Harris
Rancho Notorious
(1952)
Mort Geary
The Ring
(1952)
Harry Jackson
Lure of the Wilderness
(1952)
Dave Longden
My Man and I
(1952)
Celestino Garcia
Montana Territory
(1952)
Gimp
The Battle at Apache Pass
(1952)
Mescal Jack
Count the Hours!
(1953)
Max Verne
Ride, Vaquero!
(1953)
Barton
Gun Belt
(1953)
Rusty Kolloway
Appointment in Honduras
(1953)
Castro
The Moonlighter
(1953)
Slim
The Far Country
(1954)
Frank Newberry
Princess of the Nile
(1954)
Basra
Jubilee Trail
(1954)
Whitey
Vera Cruz
(1954)
Tex
Cattle Queen of Montana
(1954)
Yost
Ride Clear of Diablo
(1954)
Tim Lowerie
Moonfleet
(1955)
Damen
Kiss Me Deadly
(1955)
Charlie Max
The Man from Laramie
(1955)
Chris Boldt
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle
(1955)
Burger
Wichita
(1955)
Al
Artists and Models
(1955)
Ivan
Kismet
(1955)
Hasan-Ben
Man Without a Star
(1955)
Knife Murderer (uncredited)
Pardners
(1956)
Pete
Thunder Over Arizona
(1956)
Slats Callahan
Jubal
(1956)
McCoy
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
(1957)
Tom McLowery
Night Passage
(1957)
Shotgun
Baby Face Nelson
(1957)
Fatso Nagel
Dragoon Wells Massacre
(1957)
Tioga
Lure of the Swamp
(1957)
Henry Bliss
The Gun Runners
(1958)
Arnold
Edge of Eternity
(1959)
Bill Ward
The Girl in Lovers Lane
(1960)
Jesse
The Slowest Gun in the West
(1960)
Ike Dalton
Pocketful of Miracles
(1961)
Cheesecake
The Comancheros
(1961)
Horseface (Comanchero)
The Last Sunset
(1961)
Ed Hobbs
4 for Texas
(1963)
Dobie
The Night of the Grizzly
(1966)
Hank
The Rare Breed
(1966)
Deke Simons
The Way West
(1967)
Preacher Weatherby
The Last Challenge
(1967)
Ernest Scarnes
Firecreek
(1968)
Norman
Never a Dull Moment
(1968)
Ace Williams
Sartana Does Not Forgive
(1968)
Slim Kovacs
Once Upon a Time in the West
(1968)
Frank's Gunman
Support Your Local Sheriff!
(1969)
Jake
The Over the Hill Gang
(1969)
Sheriff Clyde Barnes
Ride a Northbound Horse
(1969)
Sheriff
Rio Lobo
(1970)
Phillips
Dirty Dingus Magee
(1970)
John Wesley Hardin
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County
(1970)
Kittrick
The Wild Country
(1970)
Thompson
Plimpton! Shoot-Out at Rio Lobo
(1970)
Self
Hannie Caulder
(1971)
Frank Clemens
Support Your Local Gunfighter
(1971)
Jug May
The Last Rebel
(1971)
Matt
Cat Ballou
(1971)
Kid Sheleen
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe
(1972)
Bitterroot
The Last Escape of Billy the Kid
(1972)
Pat Garrett
The Red Pony
(1973)
Granddad
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
(1973)
Alamosa Bill Kermit
A Knife for the Ladies
(1974)
Jarrod (Sheriff)
Shootout in a One-Dog Town
(1974)
Handy
Sidekicks
(1974)
Boss
Huckleberry Finn
(1975)
King
Hawmps!
(1976)
Bad Jack Cutter
Creature from Black Lake
(1976)
Joe Canton
The Winds of Autumn
(1976)
J. Pete Hankins
Pony Express Rider
(1976)
Crazy Charlie
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe
(1976)
Bitterroot
Grayeagle
(1977)
Trapper Willis
Hot Lead & Cold Feet
(1978)
Rattlesnake
The Norseman
(1978)
Death Dreamer
Lacy and the Mississippi Queen
(1978)
Willie Red Fire
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again
(1979)
Big Mac
The Villain
(1979)
Avery Simpson
The Cannonball Run
(1981)
Doctor
Soggy Bottom, U.S.A.
(1981)
Troscliar Boudreaux
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite
(1981)
Seth Beaumont
Skyward Christmas
(1981)
Clay Haller
Jinxed!
(1982)
Otto
Sacred Ground
(1983)
Lum Witcher
Lost
(1983)
Mr. Newsom
Cannonball Run II
(1984)
Doc
Scrooge's Rock 'N' Roll Christmas
(1984)
Scrooge
Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills
(1986)
Squires
The Aurora Encounter
(1986)
Charlie
Hawken's Breed
(1987)
Tackett
I Am Not a Freak
(1987)
Self
Where the Hell's That Gold?!!?
(1988)
Boone
Once Upon a Texas Train
(1988)
Jason Fitch
The Giant of Thunder Mountain
(1990)
Hezekiah Crow
Big Bad John
(1990)
Jake Calhoun
Suburban Commando
(1991)
Col. Dustin 'Dusty' McHowell
Shadow Force
(1992)
Tommy
Uninvited
(1993)
Grady
Bonanza: The Return
(1993)
Buckshot
Bonanza: Under Attack
(1995)
Buckshot
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
(1997)
Self