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Iron Eyes Cody
Acting
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 l…
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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.
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BODY OF WORK
Iron Eyes Cody's Filmography
Select any movie to open its full Movies Mates details page.
The Hypocrite
as Crying Indian (archival footage)
Vaudeville
as Self
The Great Indian Wars 1840-1890
The Spirit of '76
as Iron Eyes Cody
Ernest Goes to Camp
as Old Indian Chief
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
as Self
Grayeagle
as Standing Bear
The Quest
as Old Indian
El Condor
as Santana
A Man Called Horse
as Medicine Man
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County
as Crazy Foot
Something for a Lonely Man
as Chief
Nevada Smith
as Taka-Ta (uncredited)
The Great Sioux Massacre
as Crazy Horse
Black Gold
as Charlie Two-Bits
Alias Jesse James
as 2nd Indian on Train (uncredited)
The Light in the Forest
as Cuyloga's Counsellor
Gun Fever
as 1st Indian Chief
Ride Out for Revenge
as Cheyenne Indian (uncredited)
Gun for a Coward
as Chief
Westward Ho, The Wagons!
as Many Stars
No Poster
Johnny Moccasin
as Mountain Cloud
The Wild Dakotas
as Red Rock
Apache Ambush
Sitting Bull
as Crazy Horse
Arrow In The Dust
as Chief Rasacura (uncredited)
Fast Company
as Ben Iron Mountain
Apache War Smoke
as Apache with Major Dekker's Hat
Lost in Alaska
as Canook (uncredited)
Son of Paleface
as Chief Yellow Cloud
Ellis in Freedomland
as Male Model
Apache Country
as Indian with Pat (uncredited)
Fort Osage
as Osage Brave - Blue Shirt
Night Raiders
as Henchman Cherokee
Fort Defiance
as Brave Bear (as Iron Eyes)
Red Mountain
as Ute Indian
Ace in the Hole
as Indian Copy Boy (uncredited)
California Passage
as Indian
Cherokee Uprising
as Longknife
Broken Arrow
as Teese (uncredited)
The Iroquois Trail
as Huron Indian (uncredited)
Cody of the Pony Express
as Indian Who Slugs Cody (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mrs. Mike
as Chief Iron Eyes (uncredited)
The Cowboy and the Indians
as Indian Farmer (uncredited)
Sand
as Indian (uncredited)
Massacre River
as Chief Yellowstone
The Paleface
as Chief Iron Eyes
Indian Agent
as Wovoka
Blood on the Moon
as Toma (uncredited)
No Poster
Train to Alcatraz
as Geronimo
The Gallant Legion
as Indian Warrior
The Senator Was Indiscreet
as Indian
Bowery Buckaroos
as Indian Joe
The Last Round-up
Unconquered
as Red Corn
Can't Help Singing
as Indian Scaring Caroline (uncredited)
The Phantom
as Native (uncredited)
Dawn on the Great Divide
as Indian
Springtime in the Rockies
as White Cloud (uncredited)
Overland Mail
as Indian
King of the Stallions
The Omaha Trail
as 1st Friendly Indian
Pierre of the Plains
as Indian (uncredited
Pierre of the Plains
as Indian
Perils of Nyoka
as Arab
Ten Gentlemen from West Point
as Indian (uncredited)
My Gal Sal
as Indian (uncredited)
Lawless Plainsmen
as Indian
Ride 'Em Cowboy
as Indian (uncredited)
Valley of the Sun
as Indian (uncredited)
Don Winslow of the Navy
as Native Henchman at Mill [Ch. 5]
King of the Texas Rangers
as Carlos
This Woman Is Mine
as Hostile Indian
Saddlemates
as Black Eagle
In Old Cheyenne
as Indian
Western Union
as Indian Who Drinks Chemical Solution
Arizona
as Indian (uncredited)
Hudson's Bay
as Indian (uncredited)
Pony Post
as Indian
North West Mounted Police
as Indian Brave (Uncredited)
Young Bill Hickok
as Big Bear
Too Many Girls
as Indian (uncredited)
Colorado
as Indian Henchman
Kit Carson
as Indian
Untamed
as Indian (uncredited)
Winners of the West
as indian
Young Buffalo Bill
as Acuna's Aide
Green Hell
as Indian (uncredited)
No Poster
Maintain the Right
as Killer
Crashing Thru
as Indian Joe - Harrington's Henchman
Overland Mail
as Indian Chief
Fighting Mad
as 2nd Indian at Post
Overland with Kit Carson
as Running Wolf
The Oregon Trail
as Crow Foot
Across the Plains
as Brave
Union Pacific
as Indian (uncredited)
The Kid From Texas
as Wild West Show Indian
Scouts to the Rescue
as Indian
The Cowboy and the Lady
as Rodeo Indian (uncredited)
The Lone Ranger
as Bullet-Bringer
Prairie Thunder
as Indian (uncredited)
The Bold Caballero
as Indian (uncredited)
The Boss Rider of Gun Creek
Ride, Ranger, Ride
as Comanche War Party Leader (uncredited)
Treachery Rides the Range
as Little Deer
Custer's Last Stand
as Chief Brown Fox
Rose Marie
as Indian Dancer (uncredited)
Custer's Last Stand
as Chief Brown Fox
The Farmer Takes a Wife
as Indian
Chandu on the Magic Island
as Cat Man
The Return of Chandu
as Cat Man
Young Eagles
as Temple Guard
Massacre
as Indian (uncredited)
Fighting With Kit Carson
as Cheyenne Rider
King of the Arena
as Circus Indian
Wild Girl
as Indian (uncredited)
The Golden West
as Indian Dancer
Texas Pioneers
as Little Eagle
Murders in the Rue Morgue
as Indian at Sideshow (uncredited)
The Rainbow Trail
as John Tom
Oklahoma Jim
as War Eagle
Fighting Caravans
as Indian After Firewater (uncredited)
The Viking
as Indian (uncredited)