Páll Valtýr Pálsson or "Bill" Cody Sr. (January 5, 1891 – January 24, 1948) was a Hollywood B-Western actor of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, and father to Bill Cody Jr.
Cody began his acting career in the early days of film and just happened to have the same name as "Buffalo" Bill Cody, although he was not a relation. Cody's name was what initially drew producers to him; however, he soon proved to be a charismatic performer in his own right.
Biography
Born to Icelandic parents, in Winnipeg, Canada, the son of Páll Valtýr Eiríksson from Víðvíkurströnd and Björg Jónsdóttir from Reykjarströnd, Cody was said to have attended Saint Thomas Military Academy, and later St. Johns University. Immediately out of college, he joined the Metropolitan Stock Company, touring the U.S. and Canada. This eventually led him to Hollywood. In 1922, he began working as a stuntman.
Acting Career in Silent Films
Jesse Goldburg, liking Cody, signed him to an eight series film deal for the 1924–25 season. Golburg's company, Independent Pictures, although known for being made for as little money as possible, had gained a good reputation for having good casting and locations for their films. The first of the series starring Cody was Dangerous Days, directed by J.P. McGowan. That was followed by The Fighting Sheriff, with the rest of the series out over the next six months.
Following the Independent Pictures series, Cody starred in two films for Associated Exhibitors, The Galloping Cowboy and King of the Saddle, both released in 1926. That same year he starred in Arizona Whirlwind released through Pathé. In 1927 he starred in Born to Battle, which gave him an opportunity to exhibit his horse riding skills and to use a bull whip on screen, and two more Bill Cody Productions boasting stories supposedly concocted by Cody himself: Gold from Weepah and Laddie Be Good. Agile and pleasant in appearance, Cody ended his silent film career by starring in a group of action pictures released by Universal which temporarily removed him from the western milieu: The Price of Fear, Wolves of the City, The Tip Off, Slim Fingers and Eyes of the Underworld.
His first talking feature was Under Texas Skies, starring Bob Custer, in 1930. Many former silent film stars failed to be accepted by the public with the advent of sound pictures, and many could not make a successful transition. However, Cody's pace never lessened, and he was in demand immediately following his first "talky", despite his well-known difficulty with the memorization of dialogue.
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures signed Cody to an eight-film Western series, co-starring with child actor Andy Shuford, which was called "the Bill and Andy series". The first Monogram Cody film to be released was Dugan of the Badlands, directed by Robert Bradbury. Harry Fraser replaced Bradbury as director of The Montana Kid, Oklahoma Jim (a somber story in which Cody, as a gambler, becomes involved in an Indian uprising), Mason of the Mounted (featuring Cody as a Mountie and Shuford as a runaway youngster), the atmospheric Ghost City, Land of Wanted Men, Law of the North and Texas Pioneers. The films were well-received, but Monogram opted not to continue the series.
Cody did not film anything in 1933, instead working for a traveling Wild West show as its star attraction. He returned in 1934, starring in The Border Menace, an extremely low-budgeted film released by Aywon Pictures, which received terrible reviews. Aywon followed that with Border Guns and Western Racketeers, which did somewhat better. Cody then worked for a time in the Downie Bros. Circus, replacing Jack Hoxie as the star attraction.
Ray Kirkwood Productions
Late in 1934, producer Ray Kirkwood signed Cody to a contract, to make a series of cowboy thrillers for release through Spectrum Pictures. Kirkwood, a native of Pennsylvania who had once been a production manager for Thomas Ince and later a film distributor in South America, turned producer with the release of Frontier Days, a lively and entertaining feature which opened to exceptionally good reviews. Cody and his pinto, Chico, were joined by leading lady Ada Ince, silent film veterans Franklyn Farnum and William Desmond, one-time leading man Wheeler Oakman, and Cody's 9-year-old son, billed simply as Billy, Jr.