Iron Eyes Cody

Iron Eyes Cody
Cody (left) in 1947, in Glendale, California.
Born	Espera Oscar de Corti (1904-04-03)April 3, 1904 Kaplan, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	January 4, 1999(1999-01-04) (aged 94) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Other names	Tony Corti, Tony Cody, The Crying Indian
Years active	1927–1987
Spouse(s)	Bertha "Birdie" Parker (m. 1936–1978; her death) Wendy Foote (m. 1992–1993)

Iron Eyes Cody (born Espera Oscar de Corti April 3, 1904 – January 4, 1999) was an American actor born in Louisiana. Going by the name of Iron Eyes Cody, he portrayed Native Americans in Hollywood films. In 1996, his half-sister claimed Cody had primarily Italian ancestry.

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 Antonio de Corti and his wife, Francesca Salpietra, immigrants from Sicily. He had two brothers, Joseph William and Frank Henry, 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 anglicized his name as 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 surname to Corti. The brothers moved to California as young men, where they began acting in movies. At that time, they changed their surname to Cody. Joseph W. and Frank Henry Cody worked as extras, then moved on to other work. Frank was killed by a hit-and-run driver in 1949. The boys' father, Tony Corti, died in Texas in 1924.

Career

Cody began acting in the early 1930s, and continued to work in film and television until his death. He claimed to be Native American, saying that he had Cherokee-Cree ancestry. He frequently changed his place of birth when providing documentation. He lived as if he were of indigenous Native American descent, on and off the screen. He was said to have supported Native American causes.

At a time when numerous Westerns were featured in film and television, Cody appeared in roles as the "noble Indian in more than 100 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. He had roles in another 100 films as other characters.

In 1953, he appeared twice as Chief Big Cloud in Duncan Renaldo's syndicated television series, The Cisco Kid. 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 episode, "The Burying of Sammy Hart," on the ABC western series, The Rebel, starring Nick Adams.

Cody was widely known as the "crying chief" in the "Keep America Beautiful" public service announcement (PSA) of the early 1970s. The environmental commercial showed Cody dressed as a Native American, 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 was created by the New York office of Marsteller, Inc.

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.

Marriages and family

In 1936, Cody married Bertha Parker, a Native American woman. She was active in archeological excavations during the late 1920s and early 1930s; she became an Assistant in Archaeology at the Southwest Museum, serving in that role from 1931–1941. The couple adopted two children of Native American descent, said to be of Dakota-Maricopa ancestry. Bertha Cody died in 1978.

Son Arthur Cody served in the United States Marine Corps, seeing combat during the Vietnam War. He died in 1996. Son Robert "Tree" Cody is a musician specializing in Native American flute. He was interviewed about his father's film career in the 2009 documentary Reel Injun, which explores the portrayal of Native Americans by Hollywood filmmakers.

In 1992, Iron Eyes Cody married Wendy Foote. They divorced the following year.

Honors

• In 1995, the Hollywood Native community honored Cody for his contributions to the representation of Native American life, yet they tactfully noted his non-Native heritage.
• In 1999, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to Cody.

Death

Cody died on January 4, 1999 at the age of ninety-four. He was buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. He was survived by his adopted son, Robert.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1927	Back to God's Country	Indian	Uncredited Role
1930	The Big Trail	Indian	Uncredited Role
1931	Fighting Caravans	Indian After Firewater	Uncredited Role
	Oklahoma Jim	War Eagle
1932	The Big Stampede	Crews Indian Servent	Uncredited Role
1947	The Senator Was Indiscreet	Indian
1947	Unconquered	Red Corn
1948	Indian Agent	Wovoka
1949	Massacre River	Chief Yellowstone
1949	Sand	Indian	Uncredited
1950	California Passage	Indian
1954	Sitting Bull	Crazy Horse
1958	Gun Fever	1st Indian Chief
1965	The Great Sioux Massacre	Crazy Horse
1966	Nevada Smith	Taka-Ta	Uncredited Role
1970	El Condor	Santana, Apache Chief
	Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County	Crazy Foot
	A Man Called Horse	Medicine Man
1977	Grayeagle	Standing Bear
1987	Ernest Goes to Camp	Old Indian 'Chief St. Cloud'
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1953	The Cisco Kid	Chief Big Cloud / Chief Sky Eagle	Two separate roles, 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)
1959	Mackenzie's Raiders	Old Indian	Episode, Death Patrol (1959)
1961	The Rebel	Sammy Hart	The Death of Sammy Hart (1961) Season 2, Episode 25
1967	The Fastest Guitar Alive	1st Indian
1969	Then Came Bronson	Chief John Carbona	Episode, Old Tigers Never Die – They Just Run Away (1969)
1983	Newhart	American Indian	Episode, Don't Rain on my parade (1983)
1986	The A-Team	Chief Watashi	Episode, Mission of Peace (1986)

External links

• Iron Eyes Cody at IMDb
• Iron Eyes Cody at Find a Grave