Cody Bearpaw born July 15, 1936

Cody Bearpaw (aka "Cody Cherokee") (June 15, 1936 - 2001) was a Cree native-American who competed in rodeos, did stunt work in movies and television programs and became well known as a songwriter and musician. 

Cody Bearpaw, a Cree native-American was born in the village of Fort Chipewyan in Northern Alberta, and moved to Montana and Wyoming in his pre-teen years. Cody mixed his love of the rodeo and music, and was soon dubbed "The All Around Indian Cowboy", fronting his own band The Fugitives, and opening for such headliners as Marty Robbins, Johnny Paycheck, Nat Stuckey and Mel Tillis.

In June 1969, Cody Bearpaw married country singer Debra Berry, best known for her Musictown Records single "The Cold Wind", b/w "All-American Sport". The couple also toured the USA as a duo, performing at clubs and concert venues. As a recording artist he released singles on the Dot and First American Records labels, including the 1969 Dot release "Happy People", a Bearpaw original, followed by "Old Man Willis" b/w "Straight Man" (Dot 17310), and "Playboy" b/w "Wait Till I Get My Hands On You" (Dot-17351). His first single on the First American label was his original tune, "Winter Love".

                                  

While working show dates in Las Vegas Cody Bearpaw was "discovered" by American war hero, movie star and songwriter, Audie Murphy, who enticed him to go to Hollywood to pursue a career in movies. In 1972 he won the Stunt Man of the Year Award. Cody Bearpaw did have a starring role in the 1973 movie The Devil & Leroy Bassett; but his main claim to fame in movies and television was as a stuntman, appearing in numerous stunt roles dating back to Audie Murphy's 1955 hit film "To Hell And Back", as well as such popular films as True Grit, High Plains Drifter, Oklahoma Crude, Thunderbolt & Lightfoot, Smokey & The Bandit, and the TV shows, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Streets Of San Francisco, the Dukes Of Hazzard, etc.. His stunt performance in a classic fire fall in the 1974 movie The Towering Inferno, earned Cody Bearpaw an award for the Best Stunt Performance Of The Year.

In 1978 Cody Bearpaw released the album "All Around Indian Cowboy" on the Canyon Records label (CR-537). The album was also released in Canada on Broadland Records (BR-1991). Cody Bearpaw was also a gifted songwriter with some 30 songs credited on the BMI registry, including "Twelve Long Stemmed Roses" recorded by Mel Tillis and "Tall, Good Looking And Bullet Proof" recorded by Warner Mack for the K-Ark label in 1971. Bearpaw also wrote the title track song for the Fess Parker/Stella Stevens movie "Climb An Angry Mountain". 

In 1978 Cody released a self titled album "Cody Bearpaw" on Broadland Records. It includes three originals by Bearpaw -- "All Around Indian Cowboy," "Winter Love," and "Let It Shine" -- as well as a couple of tunes apiece written by Jerry Abbott and Bobby Ray Spears, along with a version of Henry Briggs' "Miss Pauline."

In 1980 Cody released a "Angry Mountain" (Dine Records, 1980). A cassette-only release, this was packed with country covers, some folkie stuff, and a little bit of tribally-themed material (such as the song "Rain Dance"). Bearpaw's song, "Ten More Miles To Carway," previously appeared on an indie single from 1977 that featured backing from an established band called The Navajo Sundowners, though it's not clear if this is the same version of that song, as there are no musician credits on the packaging or the tape. This came out on a label from Kayenta, Arizona, and it seems like Bearpaw may have moves to the American Southwest during the late 'Seventies.

After a hiatus, Bearpaw returned to acting in the early 1990s with a guest appearance on television. He played the character Webb in the "Poisoned Harvest" episode of the action series Raven in 1993. His acting credits remain limited in number, reflecting a selective involvement in the profession alongside other pursuits. 

In his later years Cody Bearpaw returned to live near his birthplace in Northern Alberta, and passed away with little notoriety, in Edmonton, Alberta in 2001.

(Scarce information edited from 45Cat & Slipcue)