About Me
My name is Lassie and I am a female Rough Collie. Some people say I am 'the world's most famous dog'. I have starred in many radio shows, movies, TV shows, and books from 1938 through 2006. I miss my friend Timmy very much (Jon Provost, who is in the picture with me).Originally British-American author Eric Knight wrote Lassie Come-Home, published as a short story in the Saturday Evening Post in 1938 and as a novel in 1940. In Knight's story, a young Yorkshire boy owns an exceptionally beautiful and loyal collie, but when the family faces severe economic hardship, the dog is sold to a wealthy nobleman. Both boy and dog grieve over the separation, made worse when the new owner transports Lassie hundreds of miles away to his estate in Scotland. However, the collie's instinct and courage cause her to escape, and the book follows Lassie's desperate efforts to return to the boy she loves. Lassie is a character loved by many around the world.In 1943 the book was made into what would become my first Lassie movie, also titled Lassie Come Home, which generally followed the plot of the book, and in which Roddy McDowall starred. Since then, there have been numerous sequels, television series and spin-offs. Other television series followed in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, made by various production companies, with varied casts and themes, making the Lassie concept as a television series one of the very longest running of any collective series so focused. However, in reality they were truly different series, which ran from only a few years to over a decade. There are very few other examples of a character persisting through various productions.I am one of only three dog characters, and one of very few fictional characters (another being Mickey Mouse) considered "stars" who were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the others being my friends Rin Tin Tin and Strongheart.On the 1954-1974 television series I had a series of owners, the first two being Jeff (Tommy Rettig) (reruns of this era were later syndicated as Jeff's Collie) and Timmy (Jon Provost). Both were farm boys frequently helped out of scrapes by me, their super-intelligent dog. June Lockhart, who had previously appeared in Son of Lassie, took over the role of Timmy's mother from Cloris Leachman. Ranger Corey came later and, near the end of the series, I struck out on my own, with no regular human master.The first dog to play the role of Lassie stand in was Pal, originally from Glamis Collies of California. The original owner could not train the dog and hired Weatherwax Trained Dogs to do the job. When the owner couldn't pay the bill, Pal became owned by animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and his brother Frank Weatherwax.Before Pal's death, he was bred with a number of bitches, resulting in hundreds of offspring, Nine direct line descendants of Pal have performed as Lassie stand ins. All offspring not chosen to be the next Lassie were adopted with spay/neuter contracts.All 9 Lassies stand ins have been male, playing my female character. The female collie loses her coat at least once a year making it unsuitable for use year round. Also, the male is larger and a child actor can play opposite the dog for a longer period of time.In the 1970s, I appeared in a cartoon series by Filmation, Lassie's Rescue Rangers.In 1998 a Canadian film company replaced the line dog and outraged fans staged a worldwide campaign that was spearheaded by www.lassie.net to restore the genetic line dogs to the Lassie series.Some of the dogs that played Lassie were owned and trained by Rudd Weatherwax until his death, and then by his son Robert Weatherwax. Today the dogs are owned and trained by Bob's Sons replacement... co-trainer, Carol Riggins. The copyrights to the films and series are various because so many production companies picked up the story (and changed its characters and focus) over the years.Some episodes, including "No Greater Love," and "White River Rapids", were filmed in Durango, Colorado, at the Baker home and Animas River that it overlooks alongside the Baker's Bridge, used to film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" jumping into the river.The current Lassie stand in is busy siring Lassie 10, making personal appearances, and touring to promote a new 2006 movie and a new dog food line.In 1994, Nickelodeon and Sony Wonder made six videos.
