caption resting_place death_date death_place years_active birth_place imagesize birth_date spouse birthname image article_title name
elam -rrb- in '' kansas city confidential '' -lrb- 1952 cremation 20 october 2003 ashland , oregon 1944 -- 1995 miami , arizona , usa 280px 13 november 1920 jean death -rrb- margaret jennison -lrb- 1961 -- 2003 ; his l death -rrb- hodgert -lrb- 1937 -- 61 ; her william scott elam jackelamkansas01.jpg jack elam
 jack elam
jack elam

william scott elam , known as jack elam -lrb- november 13 , 1920 -- october 20 , 2003 -rrb- , was an american film and television actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in western films and , later in his career , comedies -lrb- sometimes spoofing his villainous image -rrb- .
his most distinguishing physical quality was the iris of his left eye , which was skewed to the outside , making him look unnaturally wall-eyed -lrb- the opposite of cross-eyed -rrb- .
before his career in acting , he took several jobs in finance and served two years in the united states navy during world war ii .
elam played in 73 movies , and made an appearance in 41 television series .
his best known works consist of `` once upon a time in the west '' , `` high noon '' and the television program , `` the twilight zone '' .
jack elam died in 2003 of congestive heart failure , leaving behind two daughters and one son .
