Iron Eyes Cody

Iron Eyes Cody (born Espera Oscar de Corti, April 3, 1904 – January 4, 1999) was an American actor who portrayed Native Americans in Hollywood films, including the role of Chief Iron Eyes in Bob Hope's The Paleface (1948). He also played a Native American shedding a tear about pollution in one of the country's most well-known television public service announcements from the group Keep America Beautiful. 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.

Early life Cody was born Espera Oscar de Corti on April 3, 1904, in Kaplan in Vermilion Parish, in southwestern Louisiana, a second son of Francesca Salpietra from Sicily and her husband, Antonio de Corti from southern Italy. He had two brothers, Joseph and Frank, and a sister, Victoria. His parents had a local grocery store in Gueydan, Louisiana, where he grew up. His father left the family and moved to Texas, where he took the name Tony Corti. His mother married Alton Abshire and had five more children with him.

When the three de Corti brothers were teenagers, they joined their father in Texas and shortened their last name from de Corti to Corti. Cody's father, Tony Corti, died in Texas in 1924. The brothers moved on to California, where they were acting in movies, and changed their surname to Cody. Joseph William and Frank Henry Cody worked as extras, then moved on to other work. Frank was killed by a hit-and-run driver in 1949.

Career Cody began acting in the late 1920s. 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 (1930), with John Wayne; The Scarlet Letter (1934), with Colleen Moore; Sitting Bull (1954), as Crazy Horse; The Light in the Forest (1958) as Cuyloga; The Great Sioux Massacre (1965), with Joseph Cotten; Nevada Smith (1966), with Steve McQueen; A Man Called Horse (1970), with Richard Harris; and Ernest Goes to Camp (1987) as Chief St. Cloud, with Jim Varney.

He also appeared in over a hundred television programs. 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 episode "The Intruders". He played Seeba in S8 E26 "The Jarbo Pierce Story" on Wagon Train, 1965.

Cody was widely seen as the "Crying Indian" in the "Keep America Beautiful" public service announcements (PSA) in the early 1970s. The environmental commercial, first aired on Earth Day in 1971, depicted Cody in a Plains Indians/Hollywood Indian-style 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 ad won two Clio awards, is believed to have led to increased community involvement, and may have "helped reduce litter by 88% across 38 states", according to one source. Cody was a participant in the documentary series Hollywood (1980), where he discussed early Western filmmaker William S. Hart's use of Plains Indian Sign Language.

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 The Spirit of '76.

Personal life and death In 1936, Cody married archaeologist Bertha Parker (Abenaki and Seneca descent). She was active in excavations during the late 1920s and early 1930s before becoming an assistant in archaeology at the Southwest Museum. They adopted two children said to be of Dakota-Maricopa origin, Robert Tree Cody and Arthur. The couple remained married until Bertha's death in 1978.

Although the non-Native public who knew him from the movies and television thought of Cody as a Native American, a 1996 story by The Times-Picayune in New Orleans questioned his heritage, reporting that he was a second-generation Italian-American. This was based on an interview with his half-sister, and documents including a baptismal record. Cody, who now wore his Hollywood costumes in daily life, denied the claim.

Cody died at the age of 94 from mesothelioma at home in Los Angeles on January 4, 1999. Before death, he had written this comment: "Make me ready to stand before you with clean and straight eyes. When life fades, as the fading sunset, may our spirits stand before you without shame."

Honors On April 20, 1983, he was inducted to the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6601 Hollywood Boulevard.

In 1999, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.

Partial filmography +Film roles Year Film Role Notes1927 Back to God's Country Indian Uncredited role1928 The Viking Indian Uncredited role1930 The Big Trail Indian Uncredited role 1931 Fighting Caravans Indian After Firewater Uncredited role 1931 Oklahoma Jim War Eagle Uncredited role 1931 The Rainbow Trail John Tom Uncredited role1932 Texas Pioneers Little Eagle1942 Ride 'Em Cowboy Indian Uncredited role1947 The Senator Was Indiscreet Indian1947 Unconquered Red Corn1947 Bowery Buckaroos Indian Joe1948Blood on the MoonIndianUncredited role1948 The Paleface Chief Iron Eyes1948 Indian Agent Wovoka1948 Train to Alcatraz Geronimo1949 Massacre River Chief Yellowstone1950 Broken Arrow Teese Uncredited role1951 Ace in the Hole Indian Copy Boy Uncredited role1952 Lost in Alaska Canook Uncredited role1952 Montana Belle Indian on horseback Uncredited role1954 Sitting Bull Crazy HorseCredited as the "Famous T.V. Star" and technical advisor Iron Eyes Cody1955White FeatherIndian Chief1958 Gun Fever 1st Indian Chief1965 The Great Sioux Massacre Crazy Horse1966 Nevada Smith Taka-Ta Uncredited role 1970 El Condor Santana, Apache Chief 1970 Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County Crazy Foot 1970 A Man Called Horse Medicine Man #11977 Grayeagle Standing Bear1987 Ernest Goes to Camp Old Indian 'Chief St. Cloud' 1990 The Spirit of '76 Himself Cameo, final film role

+Television roles Year Title Role Notes 1953 The Cisco Kid Chief Big Cloud / Chief Sky Eagle Two separate roles, in "Indian Uprising" (1953) as Chief Sky Eagle and "The Gramophone" (1953) as Chief Big Cloud 1955 Cavalcade of America n/a Episode, "The Hostage" (1955) 1957 Cheyenne Grey Wolf Episode: "Hard Bargain" Season 2, Episode 19 1958 The Restless Gun George Washington Smith Episode "A Pressing Engagement" 1959 Rawhide John Redcloud Episode: "Incident of the Thirteenth Man" (1959) 1959 Rawhide Blue Deer Episode: "Incident of the Tinker's Dam" (1959) 1959 The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour Eskimo Pilot Episode: "Lucy Goes to Alaska" (1959) 1959 Mackenzie's Raiders n/a Episode: "Death Patrol" (1959) 1961 The Rebel Sammy Hart "The Death of Sammy Hart" (1961) Season 2, Episode 251961 Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre Nemanna Episode: "Blood Red"1962 Mister Ed Chief Thundercloud Episode: "Ed the Pilgrim" (1962) Season 3, Episode 9 1964 The Virginian Chief Black Feather Episode: "The Intruders" (1964) Season 2, Episode 23 1967 The Fastest Guitar Alive 1st Indian 1969 Then Came Bronson Chief John Carbona Episode: "Old Tigers Never Die—They Just Run Away" (1969) 1982 Fantasy Island Nancy's father Season 5, Episode 21: "Nancy and The Thunderbirds" (1982) 1983 Newhart Hotel Guest Episode: "Don't Rain on My Parade" (1983) 1986 The A-Team Chief Watashi Episode: "Mission of Peace" (1986)

Bibliography

Iron Eyes Cody

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