Jack Elam (1919-2003)

Jack Elam died October 20, 2003, at his home in Ashland, Oregon, after several years of ill health. He was recently named True West’s Best Western Film Villain in our 2003 Best of the West issue because he was the “bad guy we loved to hate.” When asked about the movie villain of the 1970s, whose bad behavior was often explained away by psychological problems, Elam told the Los Angeles Times, “The heavy today is usually not my kind of guy.” Originally from Miami, Arizona, Elam was kn