Frank Weatherwax
Encyclopedia
Frank Thrall Weatherwax was an American
actor
and animal trainer
. He is best remembered with his brother Rudd Weatherwax
for their famous collie
, Pal, the dog who became famous as Lassie
in the 1943 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
film Lassie Come Home
.
Weatherwax was born in Camp Palomas, New Mexico Territory
, 33°03′47"N 107°17′53"W (33.063, -107.298) the son of Anna Elisa (née
Wallis) and Walter Smiley Weatherwax. Weatherwax trained the original Asta for The Thin Man
, a film produced in 1934. This movie had five sequels and an accompanying television show. Weatherwax's Asta was not believed to star in any of these. He also trained Spike
, who appeared in Disney's Old Yeller and in other film and television programs.
Frank Weatherwax played a bully in Little Lord Fauntleroy
in 1921 with Mary Pickford
. In 1920 he appeared in the silent film version of Heidi
and in The Jucklins.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and animal trainer
Animal training
Animal training refers to teaching animals specific responses to specific conditions or stimuli. Training may be for the purpose of companionship, detection, protection, entertainment or all of the above....
. He is best remembered with his brother Rudd Weatherwax
Rudd Weatherwax
Ruddell Bird "Rudd" Weatherwax was an American actor and animal trainer. He and his brother Frank Weatherwax are best remembered for training dogs for motion pictures and television. Frank's collie, Pal, became the original Lassie, handled by Rudd for the 1943 MGM film Lassie Come Home...
for their famous collie
Collie
The collie is a distinctive type of herding dog, including many related landraces and formal breeds. It originates in Scotland and Northern England. It is a medium-sized, fairly lightly built dog with a pointed snout, and many types have a distinctive white pattern over the shoulders. Collies...
, Pal, the dog who became famous as Lassie
Lassie
Lassie is a fictional collie dog character created by Eric Knight in a short story expanded to novel length called Lassie Come-Home. Published in 1940, the novel was filmed by MGM in 1943 as Lassie Come Home with a dog named Pal playing Lassie. Pal then appeared with the stage name "Lassie" in six...
in the 1943 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
film Lassie Come Home
Lassie Come Home
Lassie Come Home is a 1943 MGM film starring Roddy McDowall and canine actor, Pal, in a story about the profound bond between Yorkshire boy Joe Carraclough and his rough collie, Lassie. The film was directed by Fred M. Wilcox from a screenplay by Hugo Butler based upon the 1940 novel Lassie...
.
Weatherwax was born in Camp Palomas, New Mexico Territory
New Mexico Territory
thumb|right|240px|Proposed boundaries for State of New Mexico, 1850The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of...
, 33°03′47"N 107°17′53"W (33.063, -107.298) the son of Anna Elisa (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Wallis) and Walter Smiley Weatherwax. Weatherwax trained the original Asta for The Thin Man
The Thin Man (film)
The Thin Man is a 1934 American comic detective film starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a flirtatious married couple who banter wittily as they solve crimes with ease. Nick is a hard drinking retired detective and Nora a wealthy heiress...
, a film produced in 1934. This movie had five sequels and an accompanying television show. Weatherwax's Asta was not believed to star in any of these. He also trained Spike
Spike (dog actor)
| image = Old-Yeller-classic-disney-9928179-853-480.jpgSpike was a lop-eared yellow Mastador and a dog actor best known for his performance as Old Yeller in the 1957 Disney film of the same name co-starring Tommy Kirk, Dorothy McGuire, Fess Parker, and Kevin Corcoran...
, who appeared in Disney's Old Yeller and in other film and television programs.
Frank Weatherwax played a bully in Little Lord Fauntleroy
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Little Lord Fauntleroy is the first children's novel written by English playwright and author Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was originally published as a serial in the St. Nicholas Magazine between November 1885 and October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's in 1886...
in 1921 with Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
. In 1920 he appeared in the silent film version of Heidi
Heidi
Heidi is a Swiss work of fiction, published in two parts as Heidi's years of learning and travel and Heidi makes use of what she has learned.It is a novel about the events in the life of a young girl in her grandfather's care, in the Swiss Alps...
and in The Jucklins.