Introduction
Chief Thundercloud, (born Victor Daniels, April 12, 1899 – December 1, 1955) was an American character actor in Westerns. He is noted for being the first actor to play the role of Tonto, the Lone Ranger's Native-American companion, on the screen.
Early life and career
Information available about Thundercloud is limited and vague. His application for a Social Security number lists his birth date as April 12, 1899, and his birthplace as Arizona. Most biographies state that he was Cherokee (or Muskogee), but others state that he was of German, Scottish and/or Irish ancestry. Thundercloud was the first of nine children born to Jesus Daniels and Tomaca Daniels (as indicated on his Social Security application), though the pressbook for The Lone Ranger Rides Again announced his parents as "Dark Cloud and Morning Star, aristocrats of the Muskogee tribe" and his death certificate lists his father as Joseph Mahawa.
Raised on a ranch in Arizona, he was educated at the University of Arizona at Tucson, where he excelled scholastically and in athletics (football, boxing), although no record exists of his enrollment.
Work as a character actor
Daniels worked many jobs before becoming a stuntman, as a cowboy on cattle ranches, as a miner, a rodeo performer, and tour guide, before he went to Hollywood to try his luck in acting. From there he graduated to character actor status. His title "Chief" was a Hollywood invention. He had the title role in Geronimo (1939) and played Tonto in both Republic Lone Ranger serials, The Lone Ranger (1938) and The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939).
Throughout the 1940s Chief Thundercloud continued to work as a character actor. In most of the films in which he was featured, he played an antagonist opposing the white protagonist. For example, in the film "Young Buffalo Bill" (1940) he played Akuna, a renegade Native American chief who commits murder while working as a hired hand. In the film Renegade Girl (1946), he played the main villain, Chief Whitecloud, a vengeful antagonist with a vendetta against the protagonist's family.
Although featured in a number of films, Chief Thundercloud was uncredited in some films, such as Gun Smoke (1935), a film about a ranch defending itself from a flood of sheep. He also appeared in the first two parts of the serial Custer's Last Stand (1936), again uncredited.
He had a short appearance on early television, on The Gene Autry Show (1950). One of his last appearances was on March 1, 1955, as the Apache Geronimo in the premiere episode of the syndicated television series Buffalo Bill, Jr., starring Dick Jones in the fictional title role of a young Texas frontier marshal.
Legal problems and later years
According to the Los Angeles Daily News, he was fined $200 and sentenced to four years of probation in 1951 after he pleaded guilty to violating the Corporate Security Act. Daniels was told to make restitution of $5625 to his victims after he had sold them shares in films without a permit. During his final years, he worked with other western actors, performing in live shows at the Corriganville Movie Ranch, now the Corriganville Regional Park, near Simi Valley, California.
Death
Thundercloud died at age 56 following surgery for stomach cancer, in Ventura County, California, on November 30, 1955. He was survived by his wife, Frances Delmar, a former singer, and their two children, White Eagle and Lone Star. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles. His last film role was in the John Wayne film "The Searchers" (1956), which was released after his death.
The Lone Ranger and legacy
After working for some time as a stuntman and in bit parts, it was Thundercloud's portrayal of the character Tonto in the serial The Lone Ranger (1938) that was to be his legacy. This is perhaps where Thundercloud gained the most recognition as a character actor." The same year he had a small villain-like role in the first part of Flaming Frontiers, a 15-part cliffhanger about murder and double cross. The following year Thundercloud reprised his role as the Lone Ranger’s sidekick in The Lone Ranger Rides Again.
Chapter 1 of The Lone Ranger can be found here: https://archive.org/details/MovieSerial-TheLoneRanger1938Chapter01-Hi-yoSilver
Selected filmography
- 1935 Rustlers of Red Dod Chief Grey Wolf
- 1935 Wagon Trail
- 1935 Gun Smoke
- 1936 Custer's Last Stand
- 1937 Riders of the Whistling Skull
- 1937 Wild West Days
- 1938 The Lone Ranger Tonto
- 1939 The Lone Ranger Rides Again Tonto
- 1939 Geronimo as Geronimo
- 1940 Young Buffalo Bill Akuna
- 1942 Overload Mail
- 1944 Buffalo Bill
- 1946 Renegade Girl Chief White Cloud
- 1947 The Prairie
- 1952 Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory Chief White Cloud
- 1956 The Searchers