Iron Eyes Cody
Personal Info
Known For Actor
Gender Male
Birthday 1907-04-03
Deathday 1999-01-03 (91 years old)
Place of Birth Gueydan, Louisiana, USA
Also Known As Iron Eyes, The Crying Indian (nickname), Espera Oscar de Corti
Iron Eyes Cody
Biography
Iron Eyes Cody (born Espera Oscar de Corti), was an Italian-American actor. He portrayed Native Americans in Hollywood films, famously as Chief Iron Eyes in Bob Hope's The Paleface. He also played a Native American shedding a tear about litter in one of the country's most well-known television public service announcements, "Keep America Beautiful". Cody began acting in the early 1930s. He worked in film and television until his death. Cody claimed his father was Cherokee (and his mother Cree), also naming several different tribes, and frequently changing his claimed place of birth. To those unfamiliar with Indigenous American or First Nations cultures and people, he gave the appearance of living "as if" he were Native American, fulfilling the stereotypical expectations by wearing his film wardrobe as daily clothing—including braided wig, fringed leathers and beaded moccasins—at least when photographers were visiting, and in other ways continuing to play the same Hollywood-scripted roles off-screen as well as on. He appeared in more than 200 films, including The Big Trail with John Wayne; The Scarlet Letter, with Colleen Moore; Sitting Bull, as Crazy Horse; The Light in the Forest as Cuyloga; The Great Sioux Massacre, with Joseph Cotten; Nevada Smith, with Steve McQueen; A Man Called Horse, with Richard Harris; and Ernest Goes to Camp as Chief St. Cloud, with Jim Varney. In 1953, he appeared twice in Duncan Renaldo's syndicated television series, The Cisco Kid as Chief Sky Eagle. He guest starred on the NBC western series, The Restless Gun, starring John Payne, and The Tall Man, with Barry Sullivan and Clu Gulager. In 1961, he played the title role in "The Burying of Sammy Hart" on the ABC western series, The Rebel, starring Nick Adams. A close friend of Walt Disney, Cody appeared in a Disney studio serial titled The First Americans, and in episodes of The Mountain Man, Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. In 1964 Cody appeared as Chief Black Feather on The Virginian in the episode "The Intruders." He also appeared in a 1968 episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood featuring Native American dancers. Cody was widely seen as the "Crying Indian" in the "Keep America Beautiful" public service announcements (PSA) in the early 1970s.The environmental commercial showed Cody in costume, shedding a tear after trash is thrown from the window of a car and it lands at his feet. The announcer, William Conrad, says: "People start pollution; people can stop it." The Joni Mitchell song "Lakota", from the 1988 album, Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm, features Cody's chanting. He made a cameo appearance in the 1990 film Spirit of '76. Living in Hollywood, he began to insist, even in his private life, that he was Native American, over time claiming membership in several different tribes. In 1996, Cody's half-sister said that he was of Italian ancestry, but he denied it. After his death, it was revealed that he was of Sicilian parentage, and not Native American at all. Cody, at age 94, died of mesothelioma at his home in Los Angeles on January 4, 1999.
Known For
Actor
as Crying Indian (archival footage)
as Iron Eyes Cody
as Old Indian Chief
as Chief Watashi
as Self
as Standing Bear
as Old Indian
as Santana
as Medicine Man
as Crazy Foot
as Chief
as Medicine Man
as Taka-Ta (uncredited)
as Crazy Horse
as Medicine Man
as Charlie Two-Bits
as Chief Black Feather
as Self
as 2nd Indian on Train (uncredited)
as Sammy Hart
as Medicine Man (uncredited)
as Cuyloga's Counsellor
as 1st Indian Chief
as Cheyenne Indian (uncredited)
as Mad Wolf
as Eskimo Pilot (uncredited)
as Joe White Cloud
as Chief
as Many Stars
as Mountain Cloud
as Red Rock
as Nemanna
as Indian
as Crazy Horse
as Chief Rasacura (uncredited)
as Ben Iron Mountain
as Apache with Major Dekker's Hat
as Canook (uncredited)
as Chief Yellow Cloud
as Male Model
as Indian with Pat (uncredited)
as Osage Brave - Blue Shirt
as Henchman Cherokee
as Ute Indian
as Brave Bear (as Iron Eyes)
as Indian Copy Boy (uncredited)
as Indian
as Longknife
as Teese, Court Jester
as Comanche (uncredited)
as Indian Who Slugs Cody (archive footage) (uncredited)
as Chief Iron Eyes (uncredited)
as Indian Farmer (uncredited)
as Indian (uncredited)
as Chief Yellowstone
as Chief Iron Eyes
as Wovoka
as Toma (uncredited)
as Geronimo
as Indian Warrior
as Indian
as Indian Joe
as Red Corn
as Indian Scaring Caroline (uncredited)
as Native (uncredited)
as Indian
as White Cloud (uncredited)
as Indian
as 1st Friendly Indian
as Indian (uncredited
as Indian
as Arab
as Indian (uncredited)
as Indian (uncredited)
as Indian
as Indian (uncredited)
as Indian
as Native Henchman at Mill [Ch. 5]
as Carlos
as Hostile Indian
as Black Eagle
as Indian
as Indian Who Drinks Chemical Solution
as Indian (uncredited)
as Indian
as Big Bear
as Indian
as Indian Henchman
as Indian
as Indian (uncredited)
as indian
as Acuna's Aide
as Indian (uncredited)
as Indian Joe - Harrington's Henchman
as Indian Chief
as 2nd Indian at Post
as Running Wolf
as Crow Foot
as Brave
as Indian (uncredited)
as Wild West Show Indian
as Indian
as Rodeo Indian (uncredited)
as Bullet-Bringer
as Indian (uncredited)
as Indian (uncredited)
as Comanche War Party Leader (uncredited)
as Little Deer
as Chief Brown Fox
as Indian Dancer (uncredited)
as Chief Brown Fox
as Indian
as Cat Man
as Cat Man
as Temple Guard
as Indian (uncredited)
as Cheyenne Rider
as Circus Indian
as Indian (uncredited)
as Little Eagle
as Indian at Sideshow (uncredited)
as John Tom
as War Eagle
as Indian (uncredited)
Crew
as Stunts
as Stunts