Acting
146
Man
Apr 3, 1907
Jan 3, 1999 (91)
Gueydan, Louisiana, USA
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.
Year | Movie / TV show / Other | Role |
---|---|---|
2024 | The Hypocrite | Crying Indian (archival footage) |
1991 | The Great Indian Wars 1840-1890 | |
1990 | The Spirit of '76 | Iron Eyes Cody |
1987 | Ernest Goes to Camp | Old Indian Chief |
1983 | The A-Team | Chief Watashi |
1980 | Hollywood | Self |
1979 | When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion | Self |
1977 | Grayeagle | Standing Bear |
1976 | The Quest | Old Indian |
1970 | A Man Called Horse | Medicine Man |
1970 | El Condor | Santana |
1970 | The Immortal | |
1970 | The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County | Crazy Foot |
1969 | Then Came Bronson | |
1968 | Here's Lucy | Medicine Man |
1968 | Something for a Lonely Man | Chief |
1967 | Hondo | |
1966 | Nevada Smith | Taka-Ta (uncredited) |
1965 | The F.B.I. | Medicine Man |
1965 | Branded | |
1965 | The Great Sioux Massacre | Crazy Horse |
1962 | The Virginian | Chief Black Feather |
1962 | Black Gold | Charlie Two-Bits |
1961 | The Mike Douglas Show | Self |
1960 | The Tall Man | |
1960 | Outlaws | |
1960 | Guestward, Ho! | |
1959 | Rawhide | Medicine Man (uncredited) |
1959 | Alias Jesse James | 2nd Indian on Train (uncredited) |
1959 | The Rebel | Sammy Hart |
1958 | The Light in the Forest | Cuyloga's Counsellor |
1958 | Lawman | |
1958 | Gun Fever | 1st Indian Chief |
1958 | Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | |
1957 | Maverick | |
1957 | The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour | Eskimo Pilot (uncredited) |
1957 | Ride Out for Revenge | Cheyenne Indian (uncredited) |
1957 | The Thin Man | |
1957 | Sugarfoot | Joe White Cloud |
1957 | The Saga of Andy Burnett | Mad Wolf |
1956 | Gun for a Coward | Chief |
1956 | Westward Ho, The Wagons! | Many Stars |
1956 | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | Nemanna |
1956 | Johnny Moccasin | Mountain Cloud |
1956 | The Wild Dakotas | Red Rock |
1955 | Gunsmoke | Indian |
1955 | Cheyenne | |
1955 | The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp | |
1955 | Apache Ambush | |
1955 | Sergeant Preston of the Yukon | |
1954 | Sitting Bull | Crazy Horse |
1954 | Arrow In The Dust | Chief Rasacura (uncredited) |
1953 | Fast Company | Ben Iron Mountain |
1952 | Son of Paleface | Chief Yellow Cloud |
1952 | Lost in Alaska | Canook (uncredited) |
1952 | Night Raiders | Henchman Cherokee |
1952 | Fort Osage | Osage Brave - Blue Shirt |
1952 | Apache War Smoke | Apache with Major Dekker's Hat |
1952 | Apache Country | Indian with Pat (uncredited) |
1952 | Ellis in Freedomland | Male Model |
1951 | Ace in the Hole | Indian Copy Boy (uncredited) |
1951 | Red Mountain | Ute Indian |
1951 | Fort Defiance | Brave Bear (as Iron Eyes) |
1951 | The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok | |
1950 | Broken Arrow | Teese, Court Jester |
1950 | Comanche Territory | Comanche (uncredited) |
1950 | The Iroquois Trail | |
1950 | Cody of the Pony Express | Indian Who Slugs Cody (archive footage) (uncredited) |
1950 | California Passage | Indian |
1950 | Cherokee Uprising | Longknife |
1949 | Sand | Indian (uncredited) |
1949 | The Cowboy and the Indians | Indian Farmer (uncredited) |
1949 | Massacre River | Chief Yellowstone |
1949 | Mrs. Mike | Chief Iron Eyes (uncredited) |
1948 | The Paleface | Chief Iron Eyes |
1948 | Blood on the Moon | Toma (uncredited) |
1948 | The Gallant Legion | Indian Warrior |
1948 | Indian Agent | Wovoka |
1948 | Train to Alcatraz | Geronimo |
1947 | Unconquered | Red Corn |
1947 | The Senator Was Indiscreet | Indian |
1947 | Bowery Buckaroos | Indian Joe |
1944 | Can't Help Singing | Indian Scaring Caroline (uncredited) |
1943 | The Phantom | Native (uncredited) |
1942 | Ride 'Em Cowboy | Indian (uncredited) |
1942 | My Gal Sal | Indian (uncredited) |
1942 | Springtime in the Rockies | White Cloud (uncredited) |
1942 | Dawn on the Great Divide | Indian |
1942 | Ten Gentlemen from West Point | Indian (uncredited) |
1942 | Pierre of the Plains | Indian (uncredited |
1942 | Valley of the Sun | Indian |
1942 | Pierre of the Plains | Indian |
1942 | The Omaha Trail | 1st Friendly Indian |
1942 | King of the Stallions | |
1942 | Perils of Nyoka | Arab |
1942 | Lawless Plainsmen | Indian |
1942 | Overland Mail | Indian |
1942 | Don Winslow of the Navy | Native Henchman at Mill [Ch. 5] |
1941 | Western Union | Indian Who Drinks Chemical Solution |
1941 | In Old Cheyenne | Indian |
1941 | This Woman Is Mine | Hostile Indian |
1941 | King of the Texas Rangers | Carlos |
1941 | Saddlemates | Black Eagle |
1940 | Arizona | Indian (uncredited) |
1940 | Too Many Girls | Indian |
1940 | Young Buffalo Bill | Acuna's Aide |
1940 | Kit Carson | Indian |
1940 | Green Hell | Indian (uncredited) |
1940 | Young Bill Hickok | Big Bear |
1940 | Colorado | Indian Henchman |
1940 | Untamed | Indian (uncredited) |
1940 | Winners of the West | indian |
1940 | Pony Post | Indian |
1939 | Union Pacific | Indian (uncredited) |
1939 | Across the Plains | Brave |
1939 | Fighting Mad | 2nd Indian at Post |
1939 | The Kid From Texas | Wild West Show Indian |
1939 | Overland with Kit Carson | Running Wolf |
1939 | Crashing Thru | Indian Joe - Harrington's Henchman |
1939 | Overland Mail | Indian Chief |
1939 | The Oregon Trail | Crow Foot |
1939 | Scouts to the Rescue | Indian |
1938 | The Cowboy and the Lady | Rodeo Indian (uncredited) |
1938 | The Lone Ranger | Bullet-Bringer |
1937 | Prairie Thunder | Indian (uncredited) |
1936 | Rose Marie | Indian Dancer (uncredited) |
1936 | The Bold Caballero | Indian (uncredited) |
1936 | Ride, Ranger, Ride | Comanche War Party Leader (uncredited) |
1936 | Custer's Last Stand | Chief Brown Fox |
1936 | The Boss Rider of Gun Creek | |
1936 | Treachery Rides the Range | Little Deer |
1936 | Custer's Last Stand | Chief Brown Fox |
1935 | Chandu on the Magic Island | Cat Man |
1934 | The Return of Chandu | Cat Man |
1934 | Massacre | Indian (uncredited) |
1934 | Young Eagles | Temple Guard |
1933 | Fighting With Kit Carson | Cheyenne Rider |
1933 | King of the Arena | Circus Indian |
1932 | Murders in the Rue Morgue | Indian at Sideshow (uncredited) |
1932 | Wild Girl | Indian (uncredited) |
1932 | The Rainbow Trail | John Tom |
1932 | Texas Pioneers | Little Eagle |
1931 | Oklahoma Jim | War Eagle |
1928 | The Viking | Indian (uncredited) |
Year | Movie / TV show / Other | Role |
---|---|---|
1940 | Green Hell | Stunts |
1939 | Stagecoach | Stunts |