Born to Icelandic parents, in Winnipeg, Canada, the son of Páll Valtýr Eiríksson from Víðvíkurströnd and Björg Jónsdóttir from Reykjarströnd,[2] Cody was said to have attended Saint Thomas Military Academy, and later St. Johns University.

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.

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.

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.

It was followed by Six Gun Justice, The Cyclone Ranger (a tale of mistaken identity from the pen of prolific western writer Oliver Drake), The Texas Rambler (another Oliver Drake screenplay, this one with a strong element of mystery), and The Vanishing Riders (in which Cody and his son masquerade as ghosts to demoralize a gang of despicable, superstitious rustlers).

When they returned to Hollywood, Kirkwood – experiencing a financial squeeze – replaced writer Drake with his own wife, Zarah Tazil, who wrote the remaining screenplays for the series.

[7] Prior to joining Downie, Cody was a feature on the Miller Brothers' 101 Ranch show in 1929 and the Bostock Wild Animal Circus in 1934, the year he starred in The Border Menace, called by some "the worst B-Western ever made[8]."

During production, Kirkwood's backer, Monarch Laboratories, removed him as producer and ordered him to leave the set, placing director Harry Fraser in charge.

A funeral mass was celebrated at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood, and Cody was survived by his wife, Victoria Regina, and his sons, Bill Jr. and Henry.