Biography for
Iron Eyes Cody More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

3 April 1907, Gueydan, Louisiana, USA

Date of Death

4 January 1999, Los Angeles, California, USA (natural causes)

Birth Name

Espera Oscar DeCorti

Nickname

The Crying Indian

Mini Biography

Iron Eyes Cody was born Espera DeCorti, the son of two first-generation immigrants from Italy. In 1924 he moved to California, changed his name - already shortened from "DeCorti" to "Corti" - to Cody, and started working as an actor, presenting himself as a Native American. He married an Indian woman, Bertha Parker, and together they adopted two Indian sons. Iron Eyes Cody lived and worked as an Indian for all his adult life; he labored for decades to promote Native American causes, and was honored by Hollywood's Native American community in 1995 for his efforts.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Susan C Mitchell

Spouse

Wendy Foote	(1992 - 1993) (divorced)
Bertha Birdie' Parker'	(1936 - 1978) (her death) 3 children

Trivia

He was the man who played the Indian that sheds a single tear for a blighted American environment in "Keep America Beautiful" ads that ran from 1971 into the 1980s.

Cody's Native American heritage was challenged in 1996 by a New Orleans (Louisiana, USA) newspaper which reported that he was in fact of Italian ancestry, which he of course denied.

Father of Joseph Cody

Interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood California next to his wife, who died in 1978.

His daughter died in a childhood hunting accident.

Was actually of Italian descent.

Brother of J.W. Cody.

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