Chief Thundercloud, (born Victor Daniels, April 12, 1899 – December 1, 1955) was an American character actor in westerns.
Information about Thundercloud is vague. Most biographies state that he was a full blooded Cherokee (or Muskogee), although others state that he had some German, Scottish and/or Irish ancestors; and that he was educated at the University of Arizona, although no record exists of his enrollment. The pressbook for The Lone Ranger Rides Again announced his parents as "Dark Cloud and Morning Star, aristocrats of the Muskogee tribe" but his death certificate lists his father as "Joseph Mahawa."
Daniels worked many jobs before becoming a stuntman. From there he graduated to character actor status. His title "Chief" was a Hollywood invention. 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).
In later years, he worked with other western actors, performing in live shows at the Corriganville Ranch.
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“In his very rejection of art Walt Whitman is an artist. He tried to produce a certain effect by certain means and he succeeded.... He stands apart, and the chief value of his work is in its prophecy, not in its performance. He has begun a prelude to larger themes. He is the herald to a new era. As a man he is the precursor of a fresh type. He is a factor in the heroic and spiritual evolution of the human being. If Poetry has passed him by, Philosophy will take note of him.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)