| Iron Eyes Cody | |
|---|---|
 Iron Eyes Cody (left), in Glendale, California (1947). |
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| Born | Espera Oscar de Corti April 3, 1907 Gueydan, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | January 4, 1999 (aged 91) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Other name(s) | The Crying Indian |
| Years active | 1927 - 1987 |
| Spouse(s) | Bertha "Birdie" Parker (1936 - 1978) Wendy Foote (1992 - 1993) |
Iron Eyes Cody (April 3, 1907 - January 4, 1999) was an American actor. He was recognized for portraying Native Americans in Hollywood films. Near the end of his life, his Sicilian ancestry was made public. In 1995 he was honored by the Native American community for his portrayals.
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Cody was born as Espera Oscar de Corti in Kaplan, Louisiana, a son of Antonio de Corti and his wife, Francesca Salpietra, immigrants from Sicily, Italy. They had a local grocery store in Gueydan, Louisiana, where he was raised. In some of his earliest acting credits, Cody was listed as Tony de Corti. He later changed his name to Tony Cody, falsely claiming to be of Cherokee and Cree descent.
Cody began his acting career at the age of twelve and continued to work until the time of his death. He appeared in more than 200 films, including The Big Trail (1930), with John Wayne; Sitting Bull (1954), as Crazy Horse; Nevada Smith (1966), with Steve McQueen; A Man Called Horse (1970), with Richard Harris; and Ernest Goes to Camp (1987), with Jim Varney. In 1953, he appeared twice as Chief Big Cloud in Duncan Renaldo's television series, The Cisco Kid.
He was most famous for his "crying Indian" role in the "Keep America Beautiful" Public Service Announcement (PSA) in the early 1970s.[1] It was an ecology commercial in which an Indian (Cody) sheds a tear after some trash is thrown from a speeding car and lands at his feet. The announcer, William Conrad, of Bullwinkle and Cannon fame, memorably declares: "People start pollution; people can stop it."[citation needed]
The Joni Mitchell song "Lakota," from the 1988 album, Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm, features Cody's chanting.[2] He made a cameo appearance in the 1990 film Spirit of '76.
In the The Sopranos episode "Christopher" (2002), Ralph Cifaretto (Joseph Pantoliano) threatens to expose Cody's apparently still-unknown Sicilian ancestry as leverage against anti-Columbus protests by a Native American group.
In 1995, the Hollywood Native American community honored Cody for his contributions to Native American life.[3] In 1996, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported his Sicilian heritage, but Cody denied it. He lived all his adult life claiming he was Native American and supported related causes. Cody and his wife Bertha, who was, in fact, a Native American, adopted several children, all of Native American descent.
Cody died in 1999, aged 91 and was interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. He was survived by his adopted son, Native American flautist Robert "Tree" Cody.
Thomas King named and created a character based on Iron Eyes in his novel Green Grass, Running Water.
  | Keep America Beautiful - Keep America Beautiful: Litter Prevention, Waste Reduction, Beautification |
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