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There’s a subset of movie stars that never wins awards, isn’t gossiped about on TMZ, and is never recognized on the street. We’re talking about dogs, the canine actors that are often the heart and soul of a film. Throughout the history of cinema, stories of heroic dogs, lovable pups, and the bond between human and dog have won critical acclaim and the hearts of moviegoers. Let’s get to know a few of the real canine actors behind the characters (and see if you know the roles they played).
Becoming one of the most celebrated dogs in film history, Terry, the Cairn Terrier, started life by being abandoned. Luckily, she was taken in by a loving couple, one of whom just happened to be Carl Spitz, owner of Carl Spitz’s Hollywood Dog Training School. Terry was riddled with insecurities and anxiety, so much so that she was known mostly for her unfortunate habit of peeing on the carpet.
Guided by Spitz, who had trained military dogs during World War I, Terry soon came out of her shell and showed a remarkable ability to learn. Terry won her first movie role — a small, uncredited role — in a 1934 comedy. That same year, her personality and charm won over a child actor, Shirley Temple, and Terry played Temple’s canine friend in the movie “Bright Eyes.” A string of movies followed, with Terry much in demand.
Between jobs, Terry lived the good life on Spitz’s ten-acre spread, playing in the fields and being fed homemade dinners daily. In 1939, Spitz learned that MGM was adapting a book by L. Frank Baum. The movie called for a dog that was not only talented, but also looked just like the illustrations in the book. Although hundreds of dogs auditioned, the well-trained, adorable Terry charmed the movie’s star, Judy Garland, and thus was born the indelible character of Toto, in “The Wizard of Oz.” Making over ten films, Terry lived out her retirement with the Spitz’s, dying in 1945 at the age of 12.
St. Bernards enjoyed a surge of popularity when one co-starred in a popular film in 1992. Trainer Carl Miller spent months looking for the right dog and almost gave up, when he met Chris, the two-year-old St. Bernard. Having trained a St. Bernard for the movies before, Miller was skilled at working with the dog, who was “trained to act untrained.” For instance, the breed isn’t particularly agile or rambunctious and they’re not voracious eaters, either. But the role Chris played required him to be both. Of course, the drooling and shedding came naturally.
According to Miller, Chris’s script called for him to perform myriad tricks, some better suited to a dozen other dog breeds. Chris was so successful as the lead canine in the movie “Beethoven” that he starred in the sequel, “Beethoven II.” Chris passed away shortly after filming the sequel, having enjoyed retirement with the Millers.
Born in 1940 of an AKC litter, Glamis Collies, Pal, the Collie, was considered “pet quality,” and his new owner was having trouble training him. He chewed everything, chased motorcycles, barked constantly, and generally created mayhem in the house. So he brought Pal to Rudd and Frank Weatherwax, who had just started their Studio Dog Training School. Pal’s owner was so relieved to be rid of the dog that he gave Pal to the Weatherwax brothers, in lieu of payment for training.
The Weatherwax kennel now had forty dogs, many of whom did film work. But since there were no casting calls for Collies, Pal became the family pet. And that may have been the end of the story, until Rudd Weatherwax saw that MGM was holding auditions for a dog to star in a new film, and they wanted a Collie. He brought Pal to the casting call and the male Collie didn’t even make the first cut, especially since the movie called for a female dog.
Three hundred dogs went through the original casting call. When none of them proved to be capable of playing the role, Weatherwax took Pal directly to the movie’s director, Fred M. Wilcox. After a terrific screen test, Pal was cast in the movie’s starring role, Lassie. The film was such a success and Pal was such a star that he went on to star in six more MGM films.
One of the sequences Lassie is still-known for, he learned as the Weatherwax’s family pet: Rudd’s son Bob was known for roaming away on the property. So Rudd trained Pal to find Bob wherever he was and gently take his arm to lead him home—a move we saw in many a “Lassie” film and television show.
Beethoven
In the early 1990s, cinema screens were monopolized by the cutest and most troubling St. Bernard dog in history, Beethoven! The dog that played the part of Beethoven was called Chris and, according to the most reliable sources at the time, he lived with Mr. Karl Lewis Miller, a well-known dog trainer for the cinema.
What Dog is Hooch in Turner & Hooch?
As iconic as the drooling Dogue de Bordeaux is in his starring role, the filmmakers weren’t even sure what breed of dog they wanted to cast. In fact, they looked at 50 breeds searching for the perfect canine co-star. Then they met Beasley. The Dogue de Bordeaux was born in 1978 at TNT Kennels in Wisconsin. Animal trainer Clint Rowe purchased him, along with Beasley’s stunt-double, for the film. The 17-month old pup had only five months to train for filming for his role as a “house-wrecking police dog that drank beer.”
Rowe said that while Beasley easily cracked the can open, they had to replace the beer with chicken soup in order to get Beasley to drink up. However, what he did do perfectly was slobber. In fact, he drooled so much in a one-hour stakeout scene that the car seat had to be replaced.
Beasley’s co-star, Tom Hanks, said in an interview with Larry King that shooting “Turner & Hooch” with Beasley was some of the hardest work he’d done as an actor. Unlike working lines with a human co-star, Hanks had to react to whatever Beasley did in the scene. Beasley died in 1992, at the age of 14, an unusually long life for the breed.
These Dogs Are Literally Hollywood Stars
Lovers of cinema and animals, we have thought of you! Do you know the true story of the four-legged actors who starred in some of the most famous films? Here’s the story of the dog-actors who left their mark on Hollywood!
The dogs have shown great interpretative skills have been so many over the years, to the point of pushing the famous Cannes Film Festival to establish in 2001 the Palm Dog Award – equivalent of the Palme d’Or – for the best canine performer.
At the beginning there was Rin Tin Tin, a beautiful German shepherd with incredible cinematic skills who, in the 20’s Los Angeles, became the protagonist of films, series and comics for children: it is no coincidence that his paw ended up on the Walk of Hollywood Fame. It pioneered the phenomenon of German Shepherd Dogs as actors, such as cops Rex and Jerry Lee. The story of the famous dog actor is truly moving: in 1918, in the rubble of the First World War, he was found by the Californian airman Lee Duncan. The soldier was patrolling the area when he heard a yelp from a shed. The two became inseparable friends … and the rest is history!