Bill Cody, also known as William Joseph Cody Jr., was born on January 5, 1891, in St. Paul, Minnesota, or possibly Manitoba, Canada, to parents unrelated to the famous Buffalo Bill Cody. He attended Saint Thomas Military Academy in Minneapolis and St. Johns University in New York before becoming an actor with the Metropolitan Stock Company, touring the US and Canada.
Cody eventually made his way to Hollywood in 1922, where he started as a stuntman and gradually worked his way up to acting roles. Using the pseudonym Paul Walters, he appeared in two movies for producer Jesse Goldburg's Independent Pictures. In 1924, Goldburg decided to star Cody in a series of eight B-Western features, starting with "Dangerous Days" (1924). Cody's horse, Chico, was often featured as a co-star, and he also rode a horse named King.
After the series ended in 1925, Cody moved on to producer Pat Powers' Associated Exhibitors, making two films in 1926, followed by "The Arizona Whirlwind" (1927) for Myron Selznick, released through Pathe Pictures. Cody then created his own production company, making B-Westerns released by Pathe. However, Pathe terminated its relationship with Cody in 1928, and he signed with Universal to star in three detective movies, which were his last silent films.
In 1929, Cody went on tour with the Miller Bros. 101 Ranch Show. He transitioned to sound and was back in the saddle in "Under Texas Skies" (1930) for W. Ray Johnston's Syndicate Pictures. He subsequently signed with Monogram and made a series of eight B-westerns co-starring Andy Shuford in the popular Bill and Andy Series.
In 1932, Monogram decided to replace Cody and its other western star, Tom Tyler, signing Bob Steele and Rex Bell to take their place. Cody then returned to touring with his Wild West show, this time with the Bostock Wild Animal Circus. He eventually made three westerns for Robert Horner's Awyon Pictures, one of the poorest Poverty Row studios, including the infamous "The Border Menace" (1934),often referred to as "the worst B-Western ever made".
After fulfilling his contract, Cody went back on tour as the star of the Downie Bros. Circus. He signed up with producer Ray Kirkwood to make a series of Westerns in late 1934, with his son, Bill Cody Jr., co-starring in four of them, starting with "Frontier Days" (1934). Cody's last movie for Kirkwood was "Outlaws of the Range" (1936),which also co-starred Bill Jr. Spectrum, which released most of his Kirkwood pictures, announced that Bill Cody Sr. and Jr. would star in a series of B-westerns released by Spectrum for the 1936-37 season, but it was never made.
Cody took time out from touring to star in one final picture, "Fighting Cowboy, The" (1939),and appeared in bit parts as a rancher in John Ford's classic "Stagecoach" (1939) and as a sheriff in the George O'Brien western "The Fighting Gringo" (1939). He also appeared in the serial "The Masked Marvel" (1943) and had an uncredited bit part in Walter Wanger's production "Joan of Arc" (1948). It is likely that he appeared in bit parts in other movies in the 1940s, but no credits currently exist.
Bill Cody passed away on January 24, 1948, at the age of 57, in Santa Monica, California.
