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. Cody's film roles included 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 most well-known television public service announcements in the United States. Living in Hollywood, Cody began to insist--even in his private life--that he was Native American. Over time, he claimed membership in several different tribes. Although a 1996 newspaper report revealed that Cody was Italian-American and that his purported Native American identity was self-created, Cody denied the report.
Early life
Cody was born Espera Oscar de Corti on April 3, 1904, in the city of Kaplan, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. He was the second son of Francesca Salpietra of Sicily and her husband, Antonio de Corti of southern Italy. 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. 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.
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. 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. The couple had two sons, Robert Tree Cody and Arthur Cody, and remained married until Bertha's death in 1978.
Partial filmography
{|class="wikitable"
|+Film roles
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
! Notes
|-
| rowspan="1"|1927
| Back to God's Country
| Indian
| Uncredited role
|-
| rowspan="1"|1928
| The Viking
| Indian
| Uncredited role
|-
| rowspan="1"|1930
| 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 role
|-
| rowspan="1"|1932
| Texas Pioneers
| Little Eagle
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1942
| Ride 'Em Cowboy
| Indian
| Uncredited role
|-
| rowspan="1"|1947
| The Senator Was Indiscreet
| Indian
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1947
| Unconquered
| Red Corn
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1947
| Bowery Buckaroos
| Indian Joe
|
|-
|1948
|Blood on the Moon
|Indian
|Uncredited role
|-
| rowspan=1|1948
| The Paleface
| Chief Iron Eyes
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1948
| Indian Agent
| Wovoka
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1948
| Train to Alcatraz
| Geronimo
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1949
| Massacre River
| Chief Yellowstone
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1950
| Broken Arrow
| Teese
| Uncredited role
|-
| rowspan="1"|1951
| Ace in the Hole
| Indian Copy Boy
| Uncredited role
|-
| rowspan="1"|1952
| Lost in Alaska
| Canook
| Uncredited role
|-
| rowspan="1"|1952
| Montana Belle
| Indian on horseback
| Uncredited role
|-
| rowspan="1"|1954
| Sitting Bull
| Crazy Horse
|Credited as the "Famous T.V. Star" and technical advisor Iron Eyes Cody
|-
|1955
|White Feather
|Indian Chief
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1958
| Gun Fever
| 1st Indian Chief
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1965
| The Great Sioux Massacre
| Crazy Horse
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1966
| 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 #1
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1977
| Grayeagle
| Standing Bear
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1987
| Ernest Goes to Camp
| Old Indian 'Chief St. Cloud'
|
|-
| rowspan="1"|1990
| The Spirit of '76
| Himself
| Cameo, final film role