Quote:
Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug
All of the Lassie collie dogs in the TV series were actually male. Here's why.
Because female collies tend to "blow coat" (go through a massive hormone-induced shedding process) with each fertility cycle. While males blow coat as well in reaction to a change in season, it is much less noticeable than what occurs with an intact female.
1955 - CBS
One Fall day I riding my bike backstage at a local LA parade, when I suddenly came face to face with Tommy Rettig [above w/Lassie boy], much to my surprise, as I had no idea he was there.
Tommy Rettig quote. ''When I found out it was my last season [1957] on "Lassie" I was ecstatic. I had gotten to the point where I really resented not being able to go out except on Saturday nights. Of course, when I did date girls their parents always trusted me because of my goody-goody TV image. The fools!''
His small size, 5'4'', made adult movie roles almost impossible to obtain. He was a brilliant computer software programmer and wrote several books on the topic. |
I thought they used males because the females were unmanageable when they went into heat, or maybe because the males were easier to train. "Blowing coat"...interesting, never knew that. I googled it and it is true. We learn things from you City Boy. I had forgotten about how rabbit meat used to be common in stores before the 1970s until you reminded us a while back.Then it went away. Where did all the rabbit eaters go? Rabbit is good for you, low fat, and quite tasty.
Didn't the woman who played "Phyllis" in the Mary Tyler Moore show (Cloris Leachman) play his (Rettig's) mom in "Lassie"? The 1960s Lassie mom was June Lockhart. I recall that Rettig also played a role in a film with Robert Mitchum & Marilyn Monroe called "The River of No Return" or something similar. He played Mitchum's son and Marilyn was a showgirl. All 3 went down the Snake River on a raft and all 3 hit it off. The Lassie boy got to meet Marilyn! Love to hear Rettig tell Marilyn stories and Mitchum stories. Bet he has a lot of stories. Marilyn Mitchum...that would have been a power couple. But Mitch probably didn't want to p.o. Joe D.
Noirishers have a Happy T'giving.