Jay Silverheels from Toronto and I speak Esperanto." In 1970, he appeared in a commercial for Chevrolet as a Native American chief who rescues two lost hunters who ignored his advice in that year's Chevy Blazer. The William Tell Overture is heard in the background. Silverheels spoofed his Tonto character in a Stan Freberg Jeno's Pizza Rolls TV commercial opposite Clayton Moore, and in "The Phynx", opposite John Hart, both having played The Lone Ranger in the original television series. He appeared in three episodes of NBC's "Daniel Boone", starring Fess Parker as the real life frontiersman. His later appearances included an
Jay Silverheels was the father of three girls (Marilyn, Pamela and Karen) and a boy Jay Anthony Silverheels, who later became an actor. Silverheels suffered a stroke in 1976, and the following year, Clayton Moore rode a paint horse in Silverheels' honor in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade. Silverheels died on March 5, 1980, from complications of a at age sixty-seven, in Calabasas, Los Angeles County, California. He was cremated at Chapel of the Pines Crematory, and his ashes were returned to the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. In 1993, Jay Silverheels was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers