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