Biography
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.
Filmography50+ titles
The Twilight Zone
Once Upon a Time in the West
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe
Kung Fu
High Noon
The Wild Wild West
Bonanza
Zorro
Home Improvement
Pocketful of Miracles
Have Gun, Will Travel
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
Rawhide
Dragoon Wells Massacre
The Man from Laramie
The Rifleman
Tales of Wells Fargo
Kansas City Confidential
How the West Was Won
Support Your Local Sheriff!
Daniel Boone
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Jubal
The Far Country
The High Chaparral
The Last Sunset
Four Star Playhouse
The Lone Ranger
Simon & Simon
The Comancheros
Laramie
Pardners
Gunsmoke
Artists and Models
Vera Cruz
Mr. Lucky
Support Your Local Gunfighter
The Battle at Apache Pass
Sacred Ground
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again
Rio Lobo
The Virginian
Night Passage
Man Without a Star
Rancho Notorious
Key to the City
The Giant of Thunder Mountain
Sartana Does Not Forgive
Gun Belt
Firecreek