Espera Oscar de Corti, known as Iron Eyes Cody, was an American actor, known for portraying Native-American roles in film and television as well as advocating for Native causes despite being Sicilian by descent. For Disney, he appeared in films, such as Westward Ho, the Wagons!, The Light in the Forest, and Touchstone Pictures' Ernest Goes to Camp. In television, he appeared as Mad Wolf in "The Saga of Andy Burnett" for Walt Disney Presents and hosted the Mickey Mouse Club serial "The First Americans" alongside Tony Nakina which told stories about the American Indians to the viewer.
Cody was born in Kaplan in Vermilion Parish, in southwestern Louisiana. When he was a teenager, he his brothers followed their father to Texas for a better life. After his father died in 1924, Cody moved to California where he began acting in movies as an extra before appearing in prominent roles in films, such as The Paleface, North of the Great Divide, Sitting Bull, Grayeagle, Bowery Buckaroos, Indian Agent, Train to Alcatraz, The Great Sioux Massacre, A Man Called Horse, Broken Arrow, The Cowboy and the Indians, The Bold Caballero, and Murders in the Rue Morgue.
His television credits included The Cisco Kid, Fantasy Island, Newhart, How the West was Won, Bonanza, Medical Center, Rawhide, Cheyenne, The Virginian, Mister Ed, Here's Lucy, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Daniel Boone (1964), Death Valley Days, Alias Jesse James, and Maverick. He also became known as "The Crying Indian" in part from the "Keep America Beautiful" PSAs in the early 1970s.
Cody died at his home in Los Angeles on January 4, 1999. Before his death, he had written this comment: "Make me ready to stand before you with clean and straight eyes. When life fades, as the fading sunset, may our spirits stand before you without shame."
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Mickey Mouse Club | Himself: "Anything Can Happen Day - A Day in the Life of a Mouseketeer" Narrator: "The First Americans" |
| 1956 | "Along the Oregon Trail" | Himself |
| 1956 | Westward Ho, the Wagons! | Role: Many Stars Technical advisor |
| 1957-1958 | The Saga of Andy Burnett | Mad Wolf |
| 1958 | The Light in the Forest | Role: Cuyloga's Counsellor (uncredited) Technical advisor |
Roles[]
(Westward Ho, the Wagons!)
(The Saga of Andy Burnett)
(The Light in the Forest)
(Ernest Goes to Camp)
Gallery[]
