Iron Eyes Cody
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
The A-Team
Chief Watashi
Maverick
Indian (uncredited)
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Nemanna
Cheyenne
The Virginian
Chief Black Feather
Rawhide
Medicine Man (uncredited)
Rawhide
John Redcloud
The F.B.I.
Medicine Man
Gunsmoke
Indian
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
Medical Center
Chanter
Lawman
Here's Lucy
Medicine Man
The Rebel
Sammy Hart
The Paleface
Chief Iron Eyes
Mister Ed
Chief Thundercloud
Lawless Plainsmen
Indian
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Westward Ho, The Wagons!
Many Stars
Outlaws
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Sugarfoot
Joe White Cloud
Fast Company
Ben Iron Mountain
Gun Fever
1st Indian Chief
Nevada Smith
Taka-Ta (uncredited)
Arizona
Indian (uncredited)
The Viking
Indian (uncredited)
Branded
Indian Agent
Wovoka
Johnny Moccasin
Mountain Cloud
Unconquered
Red Corn
The Thin Man
The Tall Man
The Bold Caballero
Indian (uncredited)
Pierre of the Plains
Indian (uncredited
Pierre of the Plains
Indian
Saddlemates
Black Eagle
Prairie Thunder
Indian (uncredited)
In Old Cheyenne
Indian
Western Union
Indian Who Drinks Chemical Solution
The Hypocrite
Crying Indian (archival footage)
Bowery Buckaroos
Indian Joe
Hondo
Red Mountain
Ute Indian
Colorado
Indian Henchman
Rose Marie
Indian Dancer (uncredited)
Green Hell
Indian (uncredited)
The Rainbow Trail
John Tom
King of the Texas Rangers
Carlos
Then Came Bronson
Chief John Carbona
Fighting Mad
2nd Indian at Post
The Cisco Kid
Chief Big Cloud
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
Eskimo Pilot (uncredited)
Crashing Thru
Indian Joe - Harrington's Henchman
King of the Arena
Circus Indian
Oklahoma Jim
War Eagle
Guestward, Ho!
Broken Arrow
Teese (uncredited)
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
Hudson's Bay
Indian (uncredited)
Treachery Rides the Range
Little Deer
Young Eagles
Temple Guard
The Phantom
Native (uncredited)
Ellis in Freedomland
Male Model
Massacre
Indian (uncredited)
The Immortal
Hollywood
Self
Texas Pioneers
Little Eagle
Ace in the Hole
Indian Copy Boy (uncredited)
Wild Girl
Indian (uncredited)
A Man Called Horse
Medicine Man
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Indian at Sideshow (uncredited)
The Kid From Texas
Wild West Show Indian
Overland Mail
Indian Chief
The Quest
Old Indian
Union Pacific
Indian (uncredited)
Grayeagle
Standing Bear
King of the Stallions
Lost in Alaska
Canook (uncredited)
Ride 'Em Cowboy
Indian (uncredited)
Alias Jesse James
2nd Indian on Train (uncredited)
Train to Alcatraz
Geronimo
Gun for a Coward
Chief
Blood on the Moon
Toma (uncredited)
Sitting Bull
Crazy Horse
Ernest Goes to Camp
Old Indian Chief
My Gal Sal
Indian (uncredited)
The Light in the Forest
Cuyloga's Counsellor
Valley of the Sun
Indian (uncredited)
Springtime in the Rockies
White Cloud (uncredited)
North West Mounted Police
Indian Brave (Uncredited)
Night Raiders
Henchman Cherokee
El Condor
Santana
The Return of Chandu
Cat Man
Can't Help Singing
Indian Scaring Caroline (uncredited)
The Oregon Trail
Crow Foot
Kit Carson
Indian
Son of Paleface
Chief Yellow Cloud
The Gallant Legion
Indian Warrior
The Spirit of '76
Iron Eyes Cody
California Passage
Indian
Fort Osage
Osage Brave - Blue Shirt
Untamed
Indian (uncredited)
The Great Sioux Massacre
Crazy Horse
The Lone Ranger
Bullet-Bringer
The Senator Was Indiscreet
Indian
Apache Country
Indian with Pat (uncredited)
The Cowboy and the Lady
Rodeo Indian (uncredited)
This Woman Is Mine
Hostile Indian
Ride Out for Revenge
Cheyenne Indian (uncredited)
Fighting With Kit Carson
Cheyenne Rider
The Wild Dakotas
Red Rock
The Iroquois Trail
Pony Post
Indian
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
Self
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County
Crazy Foot
Massacre River
Chief Yellowstone
Perils of Nyoka
Arab
Young Buffalo Bill
Acuna's Aide
Overland Mail
Indian
Apache Ambush
Apache War Smoke
Apache with Major Dekker's Hat
Fighting Caravans
Indian After Firewater (uncredited)
Something for a Lonely Man
Chief
Ride, Ranger, Ride
Comanche War Party Leader (uncredited)
Ten Gentlemen from West Point
Indian (uncredited)
Scouts to the Rescue
Indian
Across the Plains
Brave
Custer's Last Stand
Chief Brown Fox
Fort Defiance
Brave Bear (as Iron Eyes)
Arrow In The Dust
Chief Rasacura (uncredited)
Dawn on the Great Divide
Indian
Young Bill Hickok
Big Bear
Overland with Kit Carson
Running Wolf
Sand
Indian (uncredited)
The Farmer Takes a Wife
Indian
Cody of the Pony Express
Indian Who Slugs Cody (archive footage) (uncredited)
Don Winslow of the Navy
Native Henchman at Mill [Ch. 5]
The Cowboy and the Indians
Indian Farmer (uncredited)
Mrs. Mike
Chief Iron Eyes (uncredited)
Too Many Girls
Indian
Cherokee Uprising
Longknife
Chandu on the Magic Island
Cat Man
Black Gold
Charlie Two-Bits
The Omaha Trail
1st Friendly Indian
Winners of the West
indian
The Boss Rider of Gun Creek
Custer's Last Stand
Chief Brown Fox
Maintain the Right
Killer
The Great Indian Wars 1840-1890
The Mike Douglas Show
Self