Richard C. Christian was known for the Marsteller Inc. ad agency he created with Bill Marsteller, and most notably for an ad that made a crying American Indian an anti-littering symbol. Christian, 84, died Saturday, the Chicago Tribune reports here.

The ad was, in its day, iconic – a plea for people to Keep America Beautiful by not littering. It began with an image of an Indian paddling a canoe down an increasingly polluted stream, lined by factories, and ended with a close-up on his face, a single tear sliding down his cheek.

The ad launched Earth Day in 1971, and it made Iron Eyes Cody, the actor who provided that image, a nationwide figure.

Cody made a career out of playing Native Americans, and claimed to be of Cherokee and Cree heritage, but he was actually Italian, born Espera di Conti. However, Cody insisted to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, which in 1996 revealed both his Italian heritage and his Louisiana upbringing, that he was Cherokee.

Here’s a link with a cut-and-paste version of the Times-Picayune story.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Iron Eyes Cody, Keep America Beautiful, Native American news, Richard C. Christian