10.0
10.0
The Quest
1976
as Old Indian
Iron Eyes Cody
Also known as: Espera Oscar de Corti
Acting
Born:April 3, 1907
Died:January 3, 1999(aged 91)
Birthplace:Gueydan, Louisiana, USA
N/A
CommunityBiography
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 (96 movies)
7.4
7.4
Something for a Lonely Man
1968
as Chief
7.0
7.0
The Omaha Trail
1942
as 1st Friendly Indian
7.0
7.0
Fast Company
1953
as Ben Iron Mountain
6.8
6.8
The Light in the Forest
1958
as Cuyloga's Counsellor
6.8
6.8
The Cowboy and the Indians
1949
as Indian Farmer (uncredited)
6.7
6.7
Broken Arrow
1950
as Teese (uncredited)
6.7
6.7
Springtime in the Rockies
1942
as White Cloud (uncredited)
6.5
6.5
Bowery Buckaroos
1947
as Indian Joe
6.5
6.5
The Kid From Texas
1939
as Wild West Show Indian
6.5
6.5
King of the Stallions
1942
6.4
6.4
A Man Called Horse
1970
as Medicine Man
6.4
6.4
The Viking
1928
as Indian (uncredited)
6.4
6.4
Red Mountain
1951
as Ute Indian
6.3
6.3
Fort Defiance
1951
as Brave Bear (as Iron Eyes)
6.3
6.3
Son of Paleface
1952
as Chief Yellow Cloud
6.3
6.3
The Cowboy and the Lady
1938
as Rodeo Indian (uncredited)
6.2
6.2
The Phantom
1943
as Native (uncredited)
6.2
6.2
Massacre River
1949
as Chief Yellowstone
6.2
6.2
Rose Marie
1936
as Indian Dancer (uncredited)
6.2
6.2
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County
1970
as Crazy Foot
6.2
6.2
Blood on the Moon
1948
as Toma (uncredited)
6.1
6.1
Murders in the Rue Morgue
1932
as Indian at Sideshow (uncredited)
6.1
6.1
Kit Carson
1940
as Indian
6.0
6.0
The Paleface
1948
as Chief Iron Eyes
6.0
6.0
The Lone Ranger
1938
as Bullet-Bringer
6.0
6.0
Fighting With Kit Carson
1933
as Cheyenne Rider
6.0
6.0
Crashing Thru
1939
as Indian Joe - Harrington's Henchman
6.0
6.0
The Great Indian Wars 1840-1890
1991
6.0
6.0
Train to Alcatraz
1948
as Geronimo
6.0
6.0
The Boss Rider of Gun Creek
1936
6.0
6.0
Fort Osage
1952
as Osage Brave - Blue Shirt
6.0
6.0
Wild Girl
1932
as Indian (uncredited)
6.0
6.0
Lost in Alaska
1952
as Canook (uncredited)
5.9
5.9
Ride 'Em Cowboy
1942
as Indian (uncredited)
5.8
5.8
Arrow In The Dust
1954
as Chief Rasacura (uncredited)
5.8
5.8
Alias Jesse James
1959
as 2nd Indian on Train (uncredited)
5.8
5.8
Valley of the Sun
1942
as Indian (uncredited)
5.8
5.8
The Iroquois Trail
1950
5.7
5.7
The Bold Caballero
1936
as Indian (uncredited)
5.6
5.6
Gun for a Coward
1956
as Chief
5.6
5.6
My Gal Sal
1942
as Indian (uncredited)
5.6
5.6
Grayeagle
1977
as Standing Bear
5.6
5.6
Too Many Girls
1940
as Indian
5.5
5.5
Colorado
1940
as Indian Henchman
5.5
5.5
Westward Ho, The Wagons!
1956
as Many Stars
5.5
5.5
Ride Out for Revenge
1957
as Cheyenne Indian (uncredited)
5.5
5.5
El Condor
1970
as Santana
5.4
5.4
The Senator Was Indiscreet
1947
as Indian
5.4
5.4
Can't Help Singing
1944
as Indian Scaring Caroline (uncredited)
5.4
5.4
Massacre
1934
as Indian (uncredited)
5.3
5.3
Ernest Goes to Camp
1987
as Old Indian Chief
5.2
5.2
Indian Agent
1948
as Wovoka
5.2
5.2
Sitting Bull
1954
as Crazy Horse
5.0
5.0
Young Eagles
1934
as Temple Guard
4.8
4.8
Chandu on the Magic Island
1935
as Cat Man
4.7
4.7
Ride, Ranger, Ride
1936
as Comanche War Party Leader (uncredited)
4.6
4.6
Gun Fever
1958
as 1st Indian Chief
4.5
4.5
The Return of Chandu
1934
as Cat Man
4.5
4.5
Young Bill Hickok
1940
as Big Bear
4.5
4.5
Sand
1949
as Indian (uncredited)
4.4
4.4
Dawn on the Great Divide
1942
as Indian
4.3
4.3
The Spirit of '76
1990
as Iron Eyes Cody
4.2
4.2
The Great Sioux Massacre
1965
as Crazy Horse
4.1
4.1
In Old Cheyenne
1941
as Indian
4.0
4.0
Pierre of the Plains
1942
as Indian
4.0
4.0
California Passage
1950
as Indian
4.0
4.0
This Woman Is Mine
1941
as Hostile Indian
3.9
3.9
Green Hell
1940
as Indian (uncredited)
3.8
3.8
Young Buffalo Bill
1940
as Acuna's Aide
3.3
3.3
Across the Plains
1939
as Brave
3.0
3.0
Apache War Smoke
1952
as Apache with Major Dekker's Hat
3.0
3.0
Prairie Thunder
1937
as Indian (uncredited)
3.0
3.0
Fighting Mad
1939
as 2nd Indian at Post
3.0
3.0
Night Raiders
1952
as Henchman Cherokee
2.0
2.0
Overland Mail
1939
as Indian Chief
1.0
1.0
Treachery Rides the Range
1936
as Little Deer
1.0
1.0
Black Gold
1962
as Charlie Two-Bits
The Rainbow Trail
1932
as John Tom
The Wild Dakotas
1956
as Red Rock
Winners of the West
1940
as indian
Pony Post
1940
as Indian
King of the Arena
1933
as Circus Indian
Perils of Nyoka
1942
as Arab
Saddlemates
1941
as Black Eagle
Apache Country
1952
as Indian with Pat (uncredited)
Cherokee Uprising
1950
as Longknife
Custer's Last Stand
1936
as Chief Brown Fox
Lawless Plainsmen
1942
as Indian
Ellis in Freedomland
1952
as Male Model
Oklahoma Jim
1931
as War Eagle
Texas Pioneers
1932
as Little Eagle
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
1979
as Self
Johnny Moccasin
1956
as Mountain Cloud
The Hypocrite
2024
as Crying Indian (archival footage)
Maintain the Right
1940
as Killer
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to review!