Chief Thundercloud

Victor Daniels (April 12, 1899 – December 1, 1955), known professionally as Chief Thundercloud, 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.

Family and education Information available about Daniels is limited and vague. He repeatedly said he was born in the Oklahoma Territory. However, his Social Security application lists his birth date as April 12, 1899, and his birthplace as Santa Cruz County in the Arizona Territory. He listed his parents as Jesus Daniels and Tomaca Daniels.

Thundercloud's first marriage was to 17-year-old Mildred Turner from Missouri on May 26, 1925, in Los Angeles. At that time, he called himself "Victor Vasquez". Their son Victor Junior Daniels was born on May 7, 1926, and a second son, Norman Daniels, on September 5, 1927, both in Los Angeles. Thundercloud divorced Mildred and later married Frances Courtright on April 26, 1933.

His Lone Ranger press biography claimed he was derived from the "Muskogee aristocracy",

Work as a character actor

Daniels worked many jobs – cowboy on cattle ranches, miner, rodeo performer, and tour guide – before he went to Hollywood to try his luck at acting. Daniels started as a stuntman. From there he graduated to character actor status. His title "Chief" was a Hollywood invention, a stage name. 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, Daniels continued to work as a character actor, maintaining the Chief Thundercloud persona. 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, Daniels was uncredited in some films, such as Gun Smoke (1936), 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.

Daniels had a short appearance on early television on The Gene Autry Show (1950). Daniels appeared as Chief Thundercloud in the 1954 episode "The Saint's Portrait" of the syndicated anthology series Death Valley Days hosted by Stanley Andrews. One of his last appearances was on March 1, 1955, as the Apache Geronimo in the premiere of the syndicated television series Buffalo Bill, Jr.. 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. 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 Daniels' portrayal of the character Tonto in the serial The Lone Ranger (1938) that was to be his legacy. This is perhaps where he gained the most recognition as a character actor. That 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.

Selected filmography

Rustlers of Red Dog (1935, serial) – Chief Grey Wolf Cyclone of the Saddle (1935) – Thundercloud Wagon Trail (1935) – Henchman Rustler's Paradise (1935) – Henchman Gun Smoke (1935) – Sheep Herder Fighting Pioneers (1935) – Eagle Feathers Saddle Aces (1935) – Canejo Rider Jose The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935) – Indian Chief The Singing Vagabond (1935) – Young Deer Custer's Last Stand (1936, serial) – Young Wolf Silly Billies (1936) – Indian For the Service (1936) – Indian Brave Ramona (1936) – Pablo Ride, Ranger, Ride (1936) – Little Wolf The Plainsman (1936) – Indian #5 with Painted Horse The Bold Caballero (1936) – Zorro's aide Riders of the Whistling Skull (1937) – High Priest Wild West Days (1937) – Indian Renfrew of the Royal Mounted (1937) – Indian Henchman The Lone Ranger (1938, serial) – Tonto The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938, serial) – Chief Gray Eagle [Chs. 3, 14] Flaming Frontiers (1938, serial) – Thunder Cloud The Law West of Tombstone (1938) – Chief Little Dog The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939, Serial) – Tonto Union Pacific (1939) – Cherokee Indian Man of Conquest (1939) – Cherokee Indian The Cat and the Canary (1939) – Indian Guide Fighting Mad (1939) – Indian Geronimo (1939) – Geronimo Murder on the Yukon (1940) – Manti – Henchman Young Buffalo Bill (1940) – Akuna Typhoon (1940) – Kehi Wyoming (1940) – Lightfoot North West Mounted Police (1940) – Wandering Spirit Hi-Yo Silver (1940) – (archive footage) Hudson's Bay (1941) – Orimha Western Union (1941) – Indian Leader Pirates on Horseback (1941) – Flying Cloud Silver Stallion (1941) – Freshwater Shut My Big Mouth (1942) – Indian Interpreter My Gal Sal (1942) – Murphy Lady in a Jam (1942) – Thundercloud King of the Stallions (1942) – Hahawi Overland Mail (1942) – Chief Many Moons [Ch. 13] The Valley of Vanishing Men (1942, serial) – Chief Tall Tree (ch. 9) Daredevils of the West (1943, serial) – Indian Chief [Ch. 8, 9] The Law Rides Again (1943) – Thundercloud The Fighting Seabees (1944) – Indian Seabee Buffalo Bill (1944) – Crazy Horse Outlaw Trail (1944) – Chief Sonora Stagecoach (1944) – Chief Thunder Cloud Raiders of Ghost City (1944, serial) – Chief Tahona Black Arrow (1944, serial) – Tribal Medicine Man Nob Hill (1945) – Indian Chief The Phantom Rider (1946, serial) – Chief Yellow Wolf Romance of the West (1946) – Chief Eagle Feather Badman's Territory (1946) – Chief Tahlequah Renegade Girl (1946) – Chief White Cloud Unconquered (1947) – Chief Killbuck The Prairie (1947) – Eagle Feather The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947) – Indian Blazing Across the Pecos (1948) – Chief Bear Claw Call of the Forest (1949) – Stormcloud Mrs. Mike (1949) – Indian The Traveling Saleswoman (1950) – Running Deer Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950) – Sleeping Fox Ambush (1950) – Tana A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950) – Crooked Knife Colt .45 (1950) – Walking Bear The Iroquois Trail (1950) – Ottawa Chief I Killed Geronimo (1950) – Geronimo Indian Territory (1950) – Indian Last of the Buccaneers (1950) – Indian Leader on Galveston Island Santa Fe (1951) – Chief Longfeather Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory (1952) – Black Hawk The Half-Breed (1952) – Apache The Searchers (1956) – Comanche Chief