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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
April 3, 1907
Died
January 3, 1999
Place of Birth
Gueydan, Louisiana, USA
Also Known As
- Iron Eyes
- The Crying Indian (nickname)
- Espera Oscar de Corti
Iron Eyes Cody
0.6 Popularity
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 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.
Known For
0.0
Crying Indian (archival footage)
The Hypocrite
2024
6.0
The Great Indian Wars 1840-1890
1991
4.6
Iron Eyes Cody
The Spirit of '76
1990
5.2
Old Indian Chief
Ernest Goes to Camp
1987
7.5
Chief Watashi
The A-Team
1983
8.3
Self
Hollywood
1980
0.0
Self
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
1979
5.6
Standing Bear
Grayeagle
1977
10.0
Old Indian
The Quest
1976
7.4
The Immortal
1970
Credits
The Hypocrite
as Crying Indian (archival footage)
2024
0.0
The Great Indian Wars 1840-1890
1991
6.0
The Spirit of '76
as Iron Eyes Cody
1990
4.6
Ernest Goes to Camp
as Old Indian Chief
1987
5.2
The A-Team
as Chief Watashi
1983
7.5
Hollywood
as Self
1980
8.3
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
as Self
1979
0.0
Grayeagle
as Standing Bear
1977
5.6
The Quest
as Old Indian
1976
10.0
The Immortal
1970
7.4
El Condor
as Santana
1970
5.5
A Man Called Horse
as Medicine Man
1970
6.4
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County
as Crazy Foot
1970
6.2
Medical Center
as Chanter
1969
6.1
Then Came Bronson
as Chief John Carbona
1969
4.8
Something for a Lonely Man
as Chief
1968
7.4
Here's Lucy
as Medicine Man
1968
6.7
Hondo
1967
6.5
Nevada Smith
as Taka-Ta (uncredited)
1966
6.7
The F.B.I.
as Medicine Man
1965
5.4
The Great Sioux Massacre
as Crazy Horse
1965
4.2
Branded
1965
6.6
The Virginian
as Chief Black Feather
1962
6.4
Black Gold
as Charlie Two-Bits
1962
1.0
The Mike Douglas Show
as Self
1961
5.4
Mister Ed
as Chief Thundercloud
1961
6.7
Guestward, Ho!
1960
4.0
Outlaws
1960
6.2
The Tall Man
1960
6.3
The Rebel
as Sammy Hart
1959
4.7
Alias Jesse James
as 2nd Indian on Train (uncredited)
1959
5.8
Rawhide
as Medicine Man (uncredited)
1959
7.2
Rawhide
as John Redcloud
1959
7.2
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
5.8
Lawman
1958
5.6
The Light in the Forest
as Cuyloga's Counsellor
1958
6.8
Gun Fever
as 1st Indian Chief
1958
4.6
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
as Eskimo Pilot (uncredited)
1957
8.6
Ride Out for Revenge
as Cheyenne Indian (uncredited)
1957
5.5
Maverick
as Indian (uncredited)
1957
6.9
The Thin Man
1957
7.5
Sugarfoot
as Joe White Cloud
1957
4.8
Gun for a Coward
as Chief
1956
5.6
Westward Ho, The Wagons!
as Many Stars
1956
5.5
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Nemanna
1956
6.0
🎬
Johnny Moccasin
as Mountain Cloud
1956
0.0
The Wild Dakotas
as Red Rock
1956
0.0
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
1955
6.3
Cheyenne
1955
6.0
Gunsmoke
as Indian
1955
6.6
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
1955
6.8
Apache Ambush
1955
6.0
Sitting Bull
as Crazy Horse
1954
5.2
Arrow In The Dust
as Chief Rasacura (uncredited)
1954
5.8
Fast Company
as Ben Iron Mountain
1953
7.0
Apache War Smoke
as Apache with Major Dekker's Hat
1952
3.0
Lost in Alaska
as Canook (uncredited)
1952
6.0
Son of Paleface
as Chief Yellow Cloud
1952
6.3
Ellis in Freedomland
as Male Model
1952
0.0
Apache Country
as Indian with Pat (uncredited)
1952
0.0
Fort Osage
as Osage Brave - Blue Shirt
1952
6.0
Night Raiders
as Henchman Cherokee
1952
3.0
Red Mountain
as Ute Indian
1951
6.4
Fort Defiance
as Brave Bear (as Iron Eyes)
1951
6.3
Ace in the Hole
as Indian Copy Boy (uncredited)
1951
7.9
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
1951
4.5
California Passage
as Indian
1950
4.0
Cherokee Uprising
as Longknife
1950
0.0
🎬
The Cisco Kid
as Chief Big Cloud
1950
5.9
Broken Arrow
as Teese (uncredited)
1950
6.7
The Iroquois Trail
1950
5.8
Cody of the Pony Express
as Indian Who Slugs Cody (archive footage) (uncredited)
1950
6.0
Mrs. Mike
as Chief Iron Eyes (uncredited)
1949
2.0
The Cowboy and the Indians
as Indian Farmer (uncredited)
1949
7.0
Sand
as Indian (uncredited)
1949
4.5
Massacre River
as Chief Yellowstone
1949
6.2
The Paleface
as Chief Iron Eyes
1948
6.0
Indian Agent
as Wovoka
1948
5.2
Blood on the Moon
as Toma (uncredited)
1948
6.2
🎬
Train to Alcatraz
as Geronimo
1948
6.0
The Gallant Legion
as Indian Warrior
1948
7.0
The Senator Was Indiscreet
as Indian
1947
5.4
Bowery Buckaroos
as Indian Joe
1947
6.5
Unconquered
as Red Corn
1947
6.3
Can't Help Singing
as Indian Scaring Caroline (uncredited)
1944
5.4
The Phantom
as Native (uncredited)
1943
6.2
Dawn on the Great Divide
as Indian
1942
4.8
Springtime in the Rockies
as White Cloud (uncredited)
1942
6.7
Overland Mail
as Indian
1942
0.0
King of the Stallions
1942
6.5
The Omaha Trail
as 1st Friendly Indian
1942
7.0
Pierre of the Plains
as Indian (uncredited
1942
4.0
Pierre of the Plains
as Indian
1942
4.0
Perils of Nyoka
as Arab
1942
0.0
Ten Gentlemen from West Point
as Indian (uncredited)
1942
5.8
My Gal Sal
as Indian (uncredited)
1942
5.6
Lawless Plainsmen
as Indian
1942
0.0
Valley of the Sun
as Indian (uncredited)
1942
5.8
Don Winslow of the Navy
as Native Henchman at Mill [Ch. 5]
1942
0.0
Ride 'Em Cowboy
as Indian (uncredited)
1941
5.9
King of the Texas Rangers
as Carlos
1941
6.0
This Woman Is Mine
as Hostile Indian
1941
4.0
Saddlemates
as Black Eagle
1941
0.0
In Old Cheyenne
as Indian
1941
4.1
Western Union
as Indian Who Drinks Chemical Solution
1941
6.0
Arizona
as Indian (uncredited)
1940
6.3
Hudson's Bay
as Indian (uncredited)
1940
5.8
Pony Post
as Indian
1940
0.0
North West Mounted Police
as Indian Brave (Uncredited)
1940
6.4
Young Bill Hickok
as Big Bear
1940
4.5
Too Many Girls
as Indian
1940
5.6
Colorado
as Indian Henchman
1940
5.5
Kit Carson
as Indian
1940
6.1
Untamed
as Indian (uncredited)
1940
4.2
Winners of the West
as indian
1940
0.0
Young Buffalo Bill
as Acuna's Aide
1940
3.8
Green Hell
as Indian (uncredited)
1940
3.9
🎬
Maintain the Right
as Killer
1940
0.0
Crashing Thru
as Indian Joe - Harrington's Henchman
1939
6.0
Overland Mail
as Indian Chief
1939
2.0
Fighting Mad
as 2nd Indian at Post
1939
3.0
Overland with Kit Carson
as Running Wolf
1939
0.5
The Oregon Trail
as Crow Foot
1939
8.0
Across the Plains
as Brave
1939
3.3
Union Pacific
as Indian (uncredited)
1939
6.6
The Kid From Texas
as Wild West Show Indian
1939
6.5
Scouts to the Rescue
as Indian
1939
0.0
The Cowboy and the Lady
as Rodeo Indian (uncredited)
1938
6.3
The Lone Ranger
as Bullet-Bringer
1938
6.0
Prairie Thunder
as Indian (uncredited)
1937
3.0
The Bold Caballero
as Indian (uncredited)
1936
5.7
The Boss Rider of Gun Creek
1936
6.0
Ride, Ranger, Ride
as Comanche War Party Leader (uncredited)
1936
4.7
Treachery Rides the Range
as Little Deer
1936
1.0
Custer's Last Stand
as Chief Brown Fox
1936
0.0
Rose Marie
as Indian Dancer (uncredited)
1936
6.2
Custer's Last Stand
as Chief Brown Fox
1936
4.5
The Farmer Takes a Wife
as Indian
1935
6.1
Chandu on the Magic Island
as Cat Man
1935
4.8
The Return of Chandu
as Cat Man
1934
4.5
Young Eagles
as Temple Guard
1934
5.0
Massacre
as Indian (uncredited)
1934
5.4
Fighting With Kit Carson
as Cheyenne Rider
1933
6.0
King of the Arena
as Circus Indian
1933
0.0
Wild Girl
as Indian (uncredited)
1932
6.0
Texas Pioneers
as Little Eagle
1932
0.0
Murders in the Rue Morgue
as Indian at Sideshow (uncredited)
1932
6.1
The Rainbow Trail
as John Tom
1932
0.0
Oklahoma Jim
as War Eagle
1931
0.0
The Viking
as Indian (uncredited)
1928
6.4