On television in the 1950s and 1960s, he made multiple guest-star appearances on many popular Western series, including "Gunsmoke", "The Rifleman", "Lawman", "Bonanza", "Cheyenne", "Have Gun – Will Travel", "Zorro", "The Lone Ranger", "The Rebel", "F Troop", "Tales of Wells Fargo", and "Rawhide". In 1961, he played a slightly crazed bus passenger on "The Twilight Zone" episode "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?". That same year, he also portrayed the Mexican historical figure Juan Cortina in "The General Without a Cause", an episode of the anthology series "Death Valley Days". In 1962, Elam appeared as Paul Henry on "Lawman" in the episode titled "Clootey Hutter".