
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.

Cheesecake
Pocketful of Miracles

Charlie - Drunk in Jail (uncredited)
High Noon

Norman
Firecreek

Hank
The Night of the Grizzly

Eddie
Finders Keepers

Pete Harris
Kansas City Confidential

Horseface (Comanchero)
The Comancheros

Doctor
The Cannonball Run

Tom McLowery
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Jake
Support Your Local Sheriff!

Big Mac
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again

Pete
Pardners

Bad Jack Cutter
Hawmps!

Col. Dustin 'Dusty' McHowell
Suburban Commando

Frank Clemens
Hannie Caulder

Doc
Cannonball Run II

Shotgun
Night Passage

Ace Williams
Never a Dull Moment

Phillips
Rio Lobo

Max Verne
Count the Hours!

Rattlesnake
Hot Lead & Cold Feet

Mort Geary
Rancho Notorious

Fatso Nagel
Baby Face Nelson

Damen
Moonfleet

Preacher Weatherby
The Way West

Ivan
Artists and Models

Tevis
Rawhide

Earl Boyce
The Sundowners

Joe Canton
Creature from Black Lake

Deke Simons
The Rare Breed

Barton
Ride, Vaquero!

Harry Jackson
The Ring

Ed Hobbs
The Last Sunset

Death Dreamer
The Norseman

Dobie
4 for Texas

Charlie Max
Kiss Me Deadly

John Wesley Hardin
Dirty Dingus Magee

Frank Newberry
The Far Country

Chris Boldt
The Man from Laramie

Jug May
Support Your Local Gunfighter

Self
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western

Tioga
Dragoon Wells Massacre

Arnold
The Gun Runners

The Trader
Bird of Paradise

Tackett
Hawken's Breed

Sheriff Clyde Barnes
The Over the Hill Gang

The Speaker
American Guerrilla in the Philippines

Boss
Sidekicks

Burger
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle

Slats Callahan
Thunder Over Arizona

Henry Bliss
Lure of the Swamp

Bill Ward
Edge of Eternity

Otto
Jinxed!

Troscliar Boudreaux
Soggy Bottom, U.S.A.

Smiling Man
High Lonesome

Jesse
The Girl in Lovers Lane

Ernest Scarnes
The Last Challenge

Bitterroot
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe

Matt
The Last Rebel

Boone
Where the Hell's That Gold?!!?

Rusty Kolloway
Gun Belt

Slim Kovacs
Sonora

Al
Wichita

Jason Fitch
Once Upon a Texas Train

Kittrick
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County

Hezekiah Crow
The Giant of Thunder Mountain

Arnie (uncredited)
One Way Street

Avery Simpson
The Villain

Basra
Princess of the Nile

Knife Murderer (uncredited)
Man Without a Star

Lum Witcher
Sacred Ground

Tommy
Shadow Force

Castro
Appointment in Honduras

Jake Calhoun
Big Bad John

J. Pete Hankins
The Winds of Autumn

Jarrod (Sheriff)
A Knife for the Ladies

Dave Longden
Lure of the Wilderness

Ike Dalton
The Slowest Gun in the West

Pat Garrett
The Last Escape of Billy the Kid

Councilman (uncredited)
Key to the City

Squires
Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills

Charlie
The Aurora Encounter

Granddad
The Red Pony

Celestino Garcia
My Man and I

Willie Red Fire
Lacy and the Mississippi Queen

Clay Haller
Skyward Christmas

Grady
Uninvited

Mescal Jack
The Battle at Apache Pass

Sheriff
Ride a Northbound Horse

McCoy
Jubal

Alamosa Bill Kermit
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

Slim
The Moonlighter

Cree
The Bushwhackers

Trapper Willis
Grayeagle

Whitey
Jubilee Trail

Tex
Vera Cruz

Self
I Am Not a Freak

Gimp
Montana Territory

Yost
Cattle Queen of Montana

Tim Lowerie
Ride Clear of Diablo

Mr. Newsom
Lost

Buckshot
Bonanza: The Return

Buckshot
Bonanza: Under Attack

Handy
Shootout in a One-Dog Town

Scrooge
Scrooge's Rock 'N' Roll Christmas

Thompson
The Wild Country

Crazy Charlie
Pony Express Rider

Fargo
A Ticket to Tomahawk

Raymond - Henchman
Wild Weed

King
Huckleberry Finn

Frank's Gunman
C'era una volta il West

Hasan-Ben
Kismet

Seth Beaumont
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite

Kid Sheleen
Cat Ballou

Bitterroot
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe

Self
Plimpton! Shoot-Out at Rio Lobo
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
116
Gender
Male
Birthday
1920-11-13
Place of Birth
Miami, Gila, Arizona, USA
Also Known As
William Scott Elam