Who is your favorite Western villain? Most of the best ones were played by Jack Elam. He grew up in rural Arizona with no dreams of stardom. He started helping his father with forms at his accounting firm, which is where he got his first taste of business.
▬Contents of this video▬ 00:00 - Intro 00:31 - Early Life 01:19 - Eye Injury 02:12 - Life Before Acting 03:12 - Starting As a Villain 04:50 - Moving to Comedy 06:14 - Love of Gambling 07:01 - Love Life and Family 08:21 - Outro
A fight at Boy Scouts escalated into an almost deadly experience. Another boy threw a pencil at him, and it stabbed him in the left eye. It was so damaged that the lens had to be removed, and it began to droop uncontrollably.
Jack wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps as an accountant, but staring at documents put him at risk of losing sight in his other eye. He had to find another career, and offering accounting experience for a part in three of his friend’s films was the golden ticket.
He began as a villain in Westerns so despicable that he could barely walk the street without getting dirty looks from his audience. That lasted for a while until he successfully transitioned to comedy. When he wasn’t racking up an impressive filmography, he played Liar’s Poker with his setmates. He loved to gamble even though he didn’t have the best poker face, and he still won most of the time. Jack also had two successful marriages. He stayed with Jean Lousie Hodge until her death and Margaret M. Jennison until he died.
Jack succumbed to congestive heart failure when he was 82. He was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame, and his friends had nothing but kind words. He also amassed a net worth of over $2 million. Like and subscribe to Facts Verse for more on the best Western actors of all time. Watch our video to learn about how Jack Elam’s eye became his unsettling trademark.
How Jack Elam’s Eye Became His Unsettling Trademark
By: Facts Verse Title: How Jack Elam’s Eye Became His Unsettling Trademark Sourced From: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kja6Nnk6s7k
