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.

Фільмографія

• 1995Bonanza: Under Attack — Buckshot
• 1993Bonanza: The Return — Buckshot
• 1993Uninvited — Grady
• Lucky Luke — Axel Ericson
• 1992Shadow Force — Tommy
• 1991Suburban Commando — Col. Dustin 'Dusty' McHowell
• Великий ремонт — Hick Peterson
• 1990Big Bad John — Jake Calhoun
• 1990The Giant of Thunder Mountain — Hezekiah Crow
• 1988Once Upon a Texas Train — Jason Fitch
• Paradise — Skragg
• 1988Where the Hell's That Gold?!!? — Boone
• 1987Hawken's Breed — Tackett
• J.J. Starbuck
• Easy Street
• 1986Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills — Squires
• 1986The Aurora Encounter — Charlie
• Detective in the House
• 1984Scrooge's Rock 'N' Roll Christmas — Scrooge
• 1984Перегони Гарматне ядро 2 — Doc
• 1983Lost — Mr. Newsom
• 1983Sacred Ground — Lum Witcher
• 1982Jinxed! — Otto
• Father Murphy
• Simon & Simon
• 1981Skyward Christmas — Clay Haller
• 1981Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. — Troscliar Boudreaux
• 1981The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite — Seth Beaumont
• 1981Перегони Гарматне ядро — Doctor
• $weepstake$
• Struck by Lightning — Frank
• 1979The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again — Big Mac
• The Sacketts — Ira Bigelow
• 1979The Villain — Avery Simpson
• Black Beauty — Jonas McBride
• 1978Hot Lead & Cold Feet — Rattlesnake
• 1978Huckleberry Finn — King
• 1978Lacy and the Mississippi Queen — Willie Red Fire
• 1978The Norseman — Death Dreamer
• Eight Is Enough
• 1977Grayeagle — Trapper Willis
• Grizzly Adams — Gus
• How the West Was Won — Cully Madigan
• 1976Creature from Black Lake — Joe Canton
• 1976Hawmps! — Bad Jack Cutter
• 1976Pony Express Rider — Crazy Charlie
• 1976The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe — Bitterroot
• 1976The Winds of Autumn — J. Pete Hankins
• 1974A Knife for the Ladies — Jarrod (Sheriff)
• 1974Shootout in a One-Dog Town — Handy
• 1974Sidekicks — Boss
• 1973The Red Pony — Granddad
• 1973Пет Герретт та Біллі Кід — Alamosa Bill Kermit
• Kung Fu — Marcus Taylor
• The Brian Keith Show
• 1972The Daughters of Joshua Cabe — Bitterroot
• 1972The Last Escape of Billy the Kid — Pat Garrett
• Alias Smith and Jones
• 1971Cat Ballou — Kid Sheleen
• Nichols — Marcus A.F. Baxter
• 1971Support Your Local Gunfighter — Jug May
• 1971The Last Rebel — Matt
• 1971Ганні Колдер — Frank Clemens
• 1970Dirty Dingus Magee — John Wesley Hardin
• 1970The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County — Kittrick
• 1970The Wild Country — Thompson
• 1970Ріо Лобо — Phillips
• 1969Ride a Northbound Horse — Sheriff
• 1969Support Your Local Sheriff! — Jake
• 1969The Over the Hill Gang — Sheriff Clyde Barnes
• 1968Firecreek — Norman
• Lancer
• 1968Never a Dull Moment — Ace Williams
• 1968Sartana Does Not Forgive — Slim Kovacs
• The Outcasts
• 1968Одного разу на Дикому Заході — Frank's Gunman
• Cimarron Strip
• Hondo
• The Guns of Will Sonnett — Sam - Sheriff
• The High Chaparral — Macklin
• 1967The Last Challenge — Ernest Scarnes
• 1967The Way West — Preacher Weatherby
• Tarzan
• 1966The Night of the Grizzly — Hank
• 1966The Rare Breed — Deke Simons
• F Troop
• The Legend of Jesse James — Deacon Smith
• The Wild Wild West — Zack Slade
• Daniel Boone — Petch
• 19634 for Texas — Dobie
• Temple Houston — George Taggart
• The Dakotas — Deputy J.D. Smith
• The Virginian — Harve Yost
• Ben Casey
• Gunslinger — Clint Gannet
• 1961Pocketful of Miracles — Cheesecake
• Target: The Corruptors!
• 1961The Comancheros — Horseface (Comanchero)
• 1961The Last Sunset — Ed Hobbs
• National Velvet — Black Barr
• Outlaws
• Stagecoach West — Clell
• 1960The Girl in Lovers Lane — Jesse
• 1960The Slowest Gun in the West — Ike Dalton
• Bonanza — Dodie Hoad, Honest John, Buford Buckalew
• 1959Edge of Eternity — Bill Ward
• Laramie — Parson Hawks
• Rawhide — Turkey Creek Jack Johnson
• The Rebel — Uncle Luce
• The Untouchables — Jug Alverson, Nick Bravo
• Tightrope
• Містер Щасливчик — Phil Bricker
• Сутінкова зона — Avery
• Bronco
• Lawman — Herm Forrest, Paul Henry
• 1958The Gun Runners — Arnold
• The Rifleman — Sim Groder, Russell
• The Texan — Luke Watson
• Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
• 1957Baby Face Nelson — Fatso Nagel
• 1957Dragoon Wells Massacre — Tioga
• Have Gun, Will Travel — Arnold Shaffner
• 1957Lure of the Swamp — Henry Bliss
• M Squad — Luke Morgan
• 1957Night Passage — Shotgun
• Richard Diamond, Private Detective — Danny Boy, Perk Butler
• Sugarfoot — Toothy Thompson
• Tales of Wells Fargo — Chris
• The Restless Gun — Tony Molinor, Link Jerrod
• Zorro — Gomez (uncredited)
• 1957Перестрілка в загоні О.К. Коррал — Tom McLowery
• Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre — Hock Ellis, Little Jimmy Lehigh, Stage Driver Cass
• 1956Jubal — McCoy
• 1956Pardners — Pete
• 1956Thunder Over Arizona — Slats Callahan
• 1955Artists and Models — Ivan
• Cheyenne — Calhoun Durango, Count Nicholas Potosi
• Frontier — Ness Fowler
• 1955Kismet — Hasan-Ben
• 1955Kiss Me Deadly — Charlie Max
• 1955Man Without a Star — Knife Murderer (uncredited)
• 1955Moonfleet — Damen
• Screen Director's Playhouse — Shanks
• 1955Tarzan's Hidden Jungle — Burger
• 1955Wichita — Al
• Дим зі ствола — Dolph Quince, Clint Dodie, Steed, Ben, Hector, Specter, Del Ordman, Sam Band, Jim Barrett, William Prange, Lucas Murdoch, Titus Spangler, Pierre Audubon
• 1955Людина з Ларемі — Chris Boldt
• 1954Cattle Queen of Montana — Yost
• 1954Jubilee Trail — Whitey
• 1954Princess of the Nile — Basra
• 1954Ride Clear of Diablo — Tim Lowerie
• Studio 57
• 1954The Far Country — Frank Newberry
• The Wonderful World of Disney — Sheriff
• 1954Vera Cruz — Tex
• 1953Appointment in Honduras — Castro
• 1953Count the Hours! — Max Verne
• 1953Gun Belt — Rusty Kolloway
• 1953Ride, Vaquero! — Barton
• 1953The Moonlighter — Slim
• 1952Finders Keepers — Eddie
• Four Star Playhouse — Vic
• 1952Kansas City Confidential — Pete Harris
• 1952Lure of the Wilderness — Dave Longden
• 1952Montana Territory — Gimp
• Mr. & Mrs. North
• 1952My Man and I — Celestino Garcia
• 1952Rancho Notorious — Mort Geary
• 1952The Battle at Apache Pass — Mescal Jack
• 1952The Ring — Harry Jackson
• 1952Рівно опівдні — Charlie - Drunk in Jail (uncredited)
• 1951Bird of Paradise — The Trader
• 1951Rawhide — Tevis
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars — Lee Dineen, Halleck
• 1951The Bushwhackers — Cree
• 1950A Ticket to Tomahawk — Fargo
• 1950American Guerrilla in the Philippines — The Speaker
• 1950High Lonesome — Smiling Man
• 1950Key to the City — Councilman (uncredited)
• 1950One Way Street — Arnie (uncredited)
• 1950The Sundowners — Earl Boyce
• The Lone Ranger — Reno Lawrence
• 1949Wild Weed — Raymond - Henchman

Ток-шоу, премії та інші появи (3)

• 1997Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western — Self
• 1987I Am Not a Freak — Self
• 1970Plimpton! Shoot-Out at Rio Lobo — Self