History Creator / JackElam

* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' (Animated Series) (1992) as Axel Ericson (Voice)

* ''Series/KungFu'' (1973) as Marcus Taylor

Elam's most memorable physical feature, his "lazy" left eye, was caused when he was accidentally stabbed in the eye-socket with a pencil by one of his best friends at a Boy Scout meeting in 1928.

Elam was born in Miami, UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}}. He earned a degree in Accountancy, and worked as a bookkeeper for Standard Oil before joining the Navy during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (he was a supply officer). After the war, he became an independent accountant in Hollywood, California, where one of his clients was studio mogul [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer Samuel Goldwyn]]. It was Goldwyn who suggested Elam try acting, telling Elam that "you've got the perfect face to play a tough guy." He made his film debut in 1949's ''She Shoulda Said No!'', a now forgotten low-budget exploitation film about marijuana addicts, playing a drug dealer. He'd go on to appear in nearly all of the popular western and crime dramas of the 50s and 60s, including ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'', ''Series/TheRifleman'', ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'', ''Series/{{Rawhide}}'', ''Series/{{Zorro}}'', ''Series/TheLoneRanger'', and ''Series/HaveGunWillTravel'', always as the bad guy. His first chance to play a straight-up, non-comedic good guy was his turn as Deputy U.S. Marshal J.D. Smith in ''Series/TheDakotas'', a short-lived western series on Creator/{{ABC}}.

* ''Series/{{Zorro}}'' (1958) as Gomez the Coachman

* ''Film/HannieCaulder'' (1973) as Frank Clemens

He was given his first comedic role (Not counting his light-hearted cameo in ''Film/HighNoon'') in 1969's ''Film/SupportYourLocalSheriff'', and the rest, as they say, was history. [[LeslieNielsenSyndrome After his masterful comedic performance in that movie, dramatic and villainous parts were pretty much never offered to him ever again]].