A scene from Columbia's 1944 cliffhanger BLACK ARROW starring Robert Scott (on the right) and Daniels.

(Courtesy of Virginia Herrick & Dick Madigan) Above - Virginia Herrick is being menaced by an older Chief Thunder Cloud (Victor Daniels) as the titled warchief in I KILLED GERONIMO (Eagle Lion, 1950).

If Daniels was lucky enough to be listed in the cast list/credits, there were several spelling variations of his screen name:

Notice the different spellings in the posters on this page, as well as others in this website.  But in some cases, his roles were uncredited, as he was simply a walk-on or supporting player in a B-programmer or an A-feature.

His last screen appearance (unbilled) was as a Comanche chief in THE SEARCHERS (Warner Bros., 1956), which starred John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter and Ward Bond.  Directed by John Ford, THE SEARCHERS was filmed in 1955 and released in 1956.

His later years were spent doing some occasional screen work, but his primary activity was working (and living) at the Corriganville movie ranch.

Daniels passed away at the Ventura County Hospital in California on December 1, 1955 following surgery for cancer. UPI and AP syndicated death notices appeared in many December 2-3, 1955 newspapers including the New York Times, and his name was listed as Victor Daniels and Victor Daniel. The articles also mention that he had portrayed Tonto on the Lone Ranger RADIO show.

He was not the radio Tonto, as John Todd had that role for all (or most all) of the complete run of Lone Ranger radio show from 1933-1954. Apparently, the author of the obituary erred by identifying Daniels as the radio Tonto instead of crediting him as the sidekick of the fabled masked rider of the plains in the two Lone Ranger serials from Republic Pictures. The newspaper obituary shown below has his name as Victor Daniel and includes the error about him being Tonto on the LR radio show.

Daniels was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California.  In May, 1998, I received the following confirmation from Forest Lawn:  "Victor Daniels is entombed in Crypt 7355, Corridor of Mercy, Fuschia Terrace, in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Glendale."

Les Adams has Daniels identified in about 80 sound era films, and that number includes 52 westerns and 13 serials.

Above - a death notice from an unidentified newspaper dated December 2, 1955. The reference to Daniels portraying Tonto on the Lone Ranger radio show is incorrect. Notice also that his name is shown as Victor Daniel (without the ending S). (Courtesy of Scott Michaels) Above - the grave marker at Forest Lawn Glendale also confirms the correct spelling of Daniels' screen name as Chief Thunder Cloud (not Thundercloud or Thunder-Cloud), and his birth and death year as 1899-1955.

Republic condensed the original THE LONE RANGER serial into a feature-length version titled HI-YO SILVER and released it in 1940.  Notice that Thunder-Cloud is spelled with a dash mark.

Poster from the Trail Blazers' adventure SONORA STAGECOACH (Monogram, 1944) showing Daniels billed third. And no dash mark in the Thunder Cloud spelling.

Daniels' most prominent roles were in:

The Lone Ranger serial (Republic, 1938) [ as Tonto ]
The Lone Ranger Rides Again serial (Republic, 1939) [ as Tonto ]
Geronimo (Paramount, 1939) [ as Geronimo ]
Hi-Yo Silver (Republic, 1940 - feature version of the Lone Ranger serial) [ as Tonto ]
Silver Stallion (Monogram, 1941) [ as the sidekick to hero Dave Sharpe ]
King of the Stallions (aka Code of the Red Man) (Monogram, 1942)
Outlaw Trail (Monogram, 1944) [ as member of the Trail Blazers trio ]
Sonora Stagecoach (Monogram, 1944) [ as member of the Trail Blazers trio ]
Black Arrow serial starring Robert Scott (Columbia, 1944)
The Phantom Rider serial (Republic, 1946)
I Killed Geronimo (Eagle-Lion, 1950) [ as Geronimo ]

Serial appearances/roles include:

Custer's Last Stand starring Rex Lease (Stage & Screen, 1936)
Wild West Days starring Johnny Mack Brown (Universal, 1937)
The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok starring Bill Elliott (Columbia, 1938)
The Lone Ranger starring Lee Powell (Republic, 1938)
Flaming Frontiers starring Johnny Mack Brown (Universal, 1938)
The Lone Ranger Rides Again starring Bob Livingston (Republic, 1939)
Daredevils of the West starring Allan Lane (Republic, 1943)
Black Arrow starring Robert Scott (Columbia, 1944)
The Phantom Rider starring Robert Kent (Republic, 1946)

Other film appearances include:

Wagon Trail starring Harry Carey (Ajax, 1935)
Rustlers Paradise starring Harry Carey (Ajax, 1935)
Fighting Pioneers starring Rex Bell (Resolute, 1935)
Cyclone of the Saddle starring Rex Lease ((Weiss/Superior, 1935)
Farmer Takes a Wife starring Henry Fonda (Fox, 1935)
Gunsmoke on the Guadalupe starring Rocky Camron (Kent, 1935)
The Singing Vagabond starring Gene Autry (Republic, 1935)
Ride, Ranger, Ride starring Gene Autry (Republic, 1936)
Romona starring Loretta Young & Don Ameche (Fox, 1936)
For the Service starring Buck Jones (Universal, 1936)
Renfrew of the Royal Mounted starring James Newill (Grand National, 1937)
The Riders of the Whistling Skull starring Bob Livingston, Ray Corrigan & Max Terhune (Three Mesquiteers series) (Republic, 1937)
The Bold Caballero starring Robert Livingston (Republic, 1937)
Union Pacific starring Barbara Stanwyck & Joel McCrea (Paramount, 1939)
Geronimo starring Preston Foster (Paramount, 1939)
Cat and the Canary starring Bob Hope (Paramount, 1939)
Fighting Mad starring James Newill (Renfrew of the Royal Mounted series) (Criterion, 1939)
Hi-Yo Silver starring Lee Powell (feature version of Lone Ranger serial) (Republic, 1940)
Northwest Mounted Police starring Gary Cooper (Paramount, 1940)
Young Buffalo Bill starring Roy Rogers (Republic, 1940)
Murder on the Yukon starring James Newill (Renfrew of the Royal Mounted series) (Monogram, 1940)
Wyoming starring Wallace Beery (MGM, 1940)
Hudson's Bay starring Paul Muni (Fox, 1940)
Typhoon starring Dorothy Lamour & Robert Preston (Paramount, 1940)
Western Union starring Robert Young (Fox, 1941)
Silver Stallion starring Dave Sharpe (Monogram, 1941)
King of the Stallions (aka Code of the Red Man) (Monogram, 1942)
Lady in a Jam starring Irene Dunne (Universal, 1942)
My Gal Sal starring Victor Mature & Rita Hayworth (Fox, 1942)
Shut My Big Mouth starring Joe E. Brown (Columbia, 1942)
The Law Rides Again starring Ken Maynard & Hoot Gibson (Trail Blazers series) (Monogram, 1943)
The Fighting Seabees starring John Wayne (Republic, 1944)
Outlaw Trail starring Bob Steele & Hoot Gibson (Trail Blazers series) (Monogram, 1944)
Sonora Stagecoach starring Bob Steele & Hoot Gibson (Trail Blazers series) (Monogram, 1944)
Buffalo Bill starring Joel McCrea (20th Century Fox, 1944)
The Falcon Out West starring Tom Conway (RKO, 1944)
Nob Hill starring George Raft (20th Century Fox, 1945)
Renegade Girl starring Alan Curtis (Screen Guild, 1946)
Romance of the West starring Eddie Dean (PRC, 1946)
Badman's Territory starring Randolph Scott (RKO, 1946)
Unconquered starring Gary Cooper (Paramount, 1947)
The Senator Was Indiscreet starring William Powell (Universal, 1947)
The Prairie (Screen Guild, 1948)
Blazing Across the Pecos starring Charles Starrett (Durango Kid series) (Columbia, 1948)
Call of the Forest starring Robert Lowery (1949)
Davy Crockett, Indian Scout starring George Montgomery (UA, 1950)
Colt 45 starring Randolph Scott (Warner Bros., 1950)
I Killed Geronimo starring James Ellison (Eagle Lion, 1950)
Ambush starring Robert Taylor (MGM, 1950)
Indian Territory starring Gene Autry (Columbia, 1950)
Traveling Saleswoman starring Joan Davis (Columbia, 1950)
A Ticket to Tomahawk starring Dan Dailey & Rory Calhoun (Fox, 1950)
Santa Fe starring Randolph Scott (Columbia, 1951)
The Half-Breed starring Robert Young (RKO, 1951)
Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory starring Clayton Moore (United Artists, 1952)
The Searchers starring John Wayne (Warner Bros., 1956)