Iron Eyes Cody
Acting • Born 1907-04-03 – Died 1999-01-03
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.
Filmography
152 credits
Apache Country
Movie • 1952
Indian with Pat (uncredited)
Ellis in Freedomland
Movie • 1952
Male Model
Nevada Smith
Movie • 1966
Taka-Ta (uncredited)
Mrs. Mike
Movie • 1949
Chief Iron Eyes (uncredited)
Son of Paleface
Movie • 1952
Chief Yellow Cloud
The Light in the Forest
Movie • 1958
Cuyloga's Counsellor
Grayeagle
Movie • 1977
Standing Bear
A Man Called Horse
Movie • 1970
Medicine Man
Broken Arrow
Movie • 1950
Teese (uncredited)
The Senator Was Indiscreet
Movie • 1947
Indian
The Paleface
Movie • 1948
Chief Iron Eyes
Ernest Goes to Camp
Movie • 1987
Old Indian Chief
Can't Help Singing
Movie • 1944
Indian Scaring Caroline (uncredited)
The Iroquois Trail
Movie • 1950
Fighting With Kit Carson
Movie • 1933
Cheyenne Rider
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
Movie • 1979
Self
Overland with Kit Carson
Movie • 1939
Running Wolf
The Lone Ranger
Movie • 1938
Bullet-Bringer
El Condor
Movie • 1970
Santana
Pierre of the Plains
Movie • 1942
Indian (uncredited
Arrow In The Dust
Movie • 1954
Chief Rasacura (uncredited)
Sitting Bull
Movie • 1954
Crazy Horse
The Phantom
Movie • 1943
Native (uncredited)
Train to Alcatraz
Movie • 1948
Geronimo
Apache War Smoke
Movie • 1952
Apache with Major Dekker's Hat
Johnny Moccasin
Movie • 1956
Mountain Cloud
Wild Girl
Movie • 1932
Indian (uncredited)
The Quest
Movie • 1976
Old Indian
Fort Defiance
Movie • 1951
Brave Bear (as Iron Eyes)
Cody of the Pony Express
Movie • 1950
Indian Who Slugs Cody (archive footage) (uncredited)
Apache Ambush
Movie • 1955
Winners of the West
Movie • 1940
indian
Black Gold
Movie • 1962
Charlie Two-Bits
Rose Marie
Movie • 1936
Indian Dancer (uncredited)
Chandu on the Magic Island
Movie • 1935
Cat Man
The Return of Chandu
Movie • 1934
Cat Man
The Boss Rider of Gun Creek
Movie • 1936
The Spirit of '76
Movie • 1990
Iron Eyes Cody
The Rainbow Trail
Movie • 1932
John Tom
The Viking
Movie • 1928
Indian (uncredited)
The Cowboy and the Lady
Movie • 1938
Rodeo Indian (uncredited)
Young Buffalo Bill
Movie • 1940
Acuna's Aide
Sand
Movie • 1949
Indian (uncredited)
Something for a Lonely Man
Movie • 1968
Chief
Young Eagles
Movie • 1934
Temple Guard
Across the Plains
Movie • 1939
Brave
Crashing Thru
Movie • 1939
Indian Joe - Harrington's Henchman
Ride 'Em Cowboy
Movie • 1941
Indian (uncredited)
Custer's Last Stand
Movie • 1936
Chief Brown Fox
The Cowboy and the Indians
Movie • 1949
Indian Farmer (uncredited)
Lost in Alaska
Movie • 1952
Canook (uncredited)
Overland Mail
Movie • 1939
Indian Chief
The Oregon Trail
Movie • 1939
Crow Foot
Treachery Rides the Range
Movie • 1936
Little Deer
Union Pacific
Movie • 1939
Indian (uncredited)
Fighting Mad
Movie • 1939
2nd Indian at Post
Night Raiders
Movie • 1952
Henchman Cherokee
The Kid From Texas
Movie • 1939
Wild West Show Indian
Ride Out for Revenge
Movie • 1957
Cheyenne Indian (uncredited)
Ride, Ranger, Ride
Movie • 1936
Comanche War Party Leader (uncredited)
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County
Movie • 1970
Crazy Foot
Arizona
Movie • 1940
Indian (uncredited)
Green Hell
Movie • 1940
Indian (uncredited)
The Bold Caballero
Movie • 1936
Indian (uncredited)
Perils of Nyoka
Movie • 1942
Arab
Pony Post
Movie • 1940
Indian
Colorado
Movie • 1940
Indian Henchman
Young Bill Hickok
Movie • 1940
Big Bear
Kit Carson
Movie • 1940
Indian
King of the Texas Rangers
Movie • 1941
Carlos
Ace in the Hole
Movie • 1951
Indian Copy Boy (uncredited)
Massacre River
Movie • 1949
Chief Yellowstone
The Hypocrite
Movie • 2024
Crying Indian (archival footage)
Prairie Thunder
Movie • 1937
Indian (uncredited)
Too Many Girls
Movie • 1940
Indian
Gun for a Coward
Movie • 1956
Chief
Untamed
Movie • 1940
Indian (uncredited)
The Great Sioux Massacre
Movie • 1965
Crazy Horse
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Movie • 1932
Indian at Sideshow (uncredited)
My Gal Sal
Movie • 1942
Indian (uncredited)
Massacre
Movie • 1934
Indian (uncredited)
California Passage
Movie • 1950
Indian
The Gallant Legion
Movie • 1948
Indian Warrior
Cherokee Uprising
Movie • 1950
Longknife
Bowery Buckaroos
Movie • 1947
Indian Joe
Fort Osage
Movie • 1952
Osage Brave - Blue Shirt
Saddlemates
Movie • 1941
Black Eagle
This Woman Is Mine
Movie • 1941
Hostile Indian
Westward Ho, The Wagons!
Movie • 1956
Many Stars
The Wild Dakotas
Movie • 1956
Red Rock
Custer's Last Stand
Movie • 1936
Chief Brown Fox
Lawless Plainsmen
Movie • 1942
Indian
Indian Agent
Movie • 1948
Wovoka
In Old Cheyenne
Movie • 1941
Indian
Western Union
Movie • 1941
Indian Who Drinks Chemical Solution
The Omaha Trail
Movie • 1942
1st Friendly Indian
Valley of the Sun
Movie • 1942
Indian (uncredited)
Overland Mail
Movie • 1942
Indian
King of the Arena
Movie • 1933
Circus Indian
Dawn on the Great Divide
Movie • 1942
Indian
Pierre of the Plains
Movie • 1942
Indian
Ten Gentlemen from West Point
Movie • 1942
Indian (uncredited)
Don Winslow of the Navy
Movie • 1942
Native Henchman at Mill [Ch. 5]
Gun Fever
Movie • 1958
1st Indian Chief
Springtime in the Rockies
Movie • 1942
White Cloud (uncredited)
Blood on the Moon
Movie • 1948
Toma (uncredited)
The Great Indian Wars 1840-1890
Movie • 1991
Scouts to the Rescue
Movie • 1939
Indian
King of the Stallions
Movie • 1942
Unconquered
Movie • 1947
Red Corn
Alias Jesse James
Movie • 1959
2nd Indian on Train (uncredited)
Fast Company
Movie • 1953
Ben Iron Mountain
Red Mountain
Movie • 1951
Ute Indian
Oklahoma Jim
Movie • 1931
War Eagle
Texas Pioneers
Movie • 1932
Little Eagle
The Farmer Takes a Wife
Movie • 1935
Indian
North West Mounted Police
Movie • 1940
Indian Brave (Uncredited)
Maintain the Right
Movie • 1940
Killer
Hudson's Bay
Movie • 1940
Indian (uncredited)
Fighting Caravans
Movie • 1931
Indian After Firewater (uncredited)
The Last Round-up
Movie • 1947
Cheyenne
TV • 1955
Here's Lucy
TV • 1968
Medicine Man
The A-Team
TV • 1983
Chief Watashi
The F.B.I.
TV • 1965
Medicine Man
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
TV • 1957
Eskimo Pilot (uncredited)
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
Indian
The Tall Man
TV • 1960
Outlaws
TV • 1960
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
TV • 1958
The Immortal
TV • 1970
Rawhide
TV • 1959
Medicine Man (uncredited)
The Virginian
TV • 1962
Chief Black Feather
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
TV • 1955
The Thin Man
TV • 1957
Hondo
TV • 1967
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
TV • 1951
Guestward, Ho!
TV • 1960
Branded
TV • 1965
The Rebel
TV • 1959
Sammy Hart
Lawman
TV • 1958
Sugarfoot
TV • 1957
Joe White Cloud
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
TV • 1955
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Nemanna
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self
Hollywood
TV • 1980
Self
Medical Center
TV • 1969
Chanter
Mister Ed
TV • 1961
Chief Thundercloud
Rawhide
TV • 1959
John Redcloud
Then Came Bronson
TV • 1969
Chief John Carbona
Maverick
TV • 1957
Indian (uncredited)
The Cisco Kid
TV • 1950
Chief Big Cloud