Iron Eyes Cody

Iron Eyes Cody born Espera Oscar de Corti was an ItalianAmerican actor He portrayed Native Americans in Hollywood films famously as Chief Iron Eyes in Bob Hopes The Paleface He also played a Native American shedding a tear about litter in one of the countrys most wellknown 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 clothingincluding braided wig fringed leathers and beaded moccasinsat least when photographers were visiting and in other ways continuing to play the same Hollywoodscripted roles offscreen 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 Renaldos 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 1970sThe 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 Codys 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 Codys halfsister 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