Timmy Martin (television character)
Encyclopedia
Timmy Martin is a fictional character portrayed by child actor Jon Provost
in the long-running television series
Lassie
(1954–1973). Provost debuted in the first episode of the fourth season, "The Runaway" (1957), as the fictional foster child of farm woman Ellen Miller. Both the character and its portrayer were hits with the show's audience. In the middle of the fourth season series star George Cleveland died unexpectedly and producers were forced to overhaul the show. Timmy was adopted by newcomers to the series Paul Martin
and his wife, Ruth
, who purchase the Miller farm.
Once the Timmy years of the show were launched, Lassie enjoyed its highest ratings, with Timmy appearing in all 226 episodes between his debut and his final appearance in the first episode of the 1964-1965 season. The Timmy character appeared in comic books, novels, Viewmaster reels, and other spinoff materials related to the show. Provost briefly reprised the character as an adult Timmy in the syndicated series, The New Lassie
(1989–1990). Jon Provost was nominated in 2003 for a TV Land award connected to his participation in Lassie.
, George Miller (George Cleveland
) discover a seven-year-old tattered runaway hiding in their barn
. Timmy, they later learn, has fled his aged and ill relatives believing he is a burden on their slim resources. Ellen contacts the boy's relatives and a social worker, and all agree Timmy would benefit from a summer on the farm.
Midway in the fourth season, Ellen sells the farm to a young couple, Ruth and Paul Martin (Cloris Leachman
and Jon Shepodd
) after the death of her father-in-law. The Martins adopt
Timmy, and Jeff leaves Lassie on the farm with Timmy when he moves to the city, knowing the dog could never adjust to life in a busy city. Leachman and Shepodd would finish the fourth season and then be dropped. Their characters would be played thereafter by Hugh Reilly
and June Lockhart
.
In the fourth season episode, "The Ring", Paul's uncle Petrie (George Chandler
) joins the cast but proved unpopular with the audience and left the show in the fifth season.
An attempt was made (but failed) to pair Timmy with a pal his own age. Kelly Junge, Jr. played Scott Richards through the last half of the fourth season but did not return for the fifth. Todd Ferrell as Ralph "Boomer" Bates, a chubby, beanie-wearing character, entered the show to recreate something of the popular Jeff and Porky friendship from the Miller years. "Boomer" never became an audience favorite and was dropped at the end of the fifth season. Thereafter, Timmy never had another steady chum on the show though classmate Wilhelmina "Willy" Brewster (Linda Wrather, 1957–1961, daughter of the show's producers Jack Wrather
and Bonita Granville
Wrather) made several appearances.
In 1959, veteran actor and comedian Andy Clyde
was cast in the show's "grandfatherly" role of Cully Wilson, an eccentric farmer, nature lover, and Martin family neighbor. Timmy and Cully were scripted into many adventures together, and Cully became one of Timmy's several adult friends that included Fire Chief Ed Washburne (Dick Foran
), veterinarian Doc Weaver (Arthur Space
), telephone operator Jenny (Florence Lake
), and Sheriff Miller (Robert Foulk). Cully was a hit and, as a result, producers curtailed Paul's presence in the series, fearing two adult males on the show would overwhelm the audience.
As the series aged and environmental issues
became a real-life concern across America, producers introduced the subject into the show at the request of the United States Forestry Service. Characters on the show were placed in situations concerning such issues. Timmy and Cully, for example, protest the proposed construction of a road through a pristine forested area. In other episodes, Timmy spearheads a classroom tree planting project called Operation Woodland, he traps and relocates (rather than kills), the beaver
s wreaking havoc with a local waterway, he builds bluebird nesting boxes, and feeds wildlife
during severe winter weather.
In 1963, the multi-part episode, "The Journey" was edited into a feature film
called Lassie's Great Adventure. The show's three principal human stars appeared in their well known roles. In the film, Timmy and Lassie are swept away in a carnival hot air balloon which finally descends far from home in the Canadian wilderness. The two travelers have several adventures before being rescued by the Mounties
. Ruth's role is confined to tearfully worrying about Timmy and finding comfort in Paul's arms. The couple fly to the wilderness to be at hand when Timmy is found. The episode was the only episode filmed in color during the Martin family seasons.
was fifteen-years-old, dating, and driving cars. He wanted to leave the show. His co-star Jan Clayton was considering a return to her roots in musical theater.
Millionaire oilman Jack Wrather
had recently purchased the show from producer Robert Maxwell
and anticipated a long and successful run for his $3,250,000 Emmy-winning investment, but he was concerned that Rettig was growing too old for the boy and his dog plot. Aware of the stars' wishes, executives reworked the show intending to introduced new characters and eventually write the Rettig and Clayton characters out of the show. A seven-year-old character called Timmy was woven into the plot. The character was named for Associate Producer Bonita Granville
Wrather's mother, "Timmie."
Wrather personally selected Jon Provost
, a child actor with several film credits, for the role of Timmy. Provost was the only actor considered for the role. The Timmy character debuted in the fourth season opener, "The Runaway" and was an instant hit with audiences.
1964 season approached, Jon Provost
was a fourteen-year-old with his contract up for a three-year renewal. Provost however did not look forward to playing Timmy Martin until the age of seventeen, describing the role as a "vacuum" and stating,
Stars Lockhart, Reilly, and Andy Clyde
received their notices, with producer Bob Golden telling the press they'd done all the "boy and his dog" stories possible. With only Provost and producers knowing the real reasons for the show changes, speculation among the cast hinted that the decision to clean house was based on money. Lockhart was quoted as saying Provost's mother wanted too much money, and Reilly later stated that the producers' decision was based upon trading four advanced salaries for [Robert Bray's] starting salary.
Associate producer Bonita Granville
Wrather kept the audience guessing through the summer of 1964 about the show's future by stating,
Without a boy in the cast as a principal character, producers reworked the show from a different angle. Several episodes which featured Lassie in the wilds such as "The Odyssey" and "The Journey" had proven popular with audiences. Jack Wrather and his associates decided to take Lassie off the farm and send her into the wilderness with a Forest Ranger who had previously appeared on the show in the tenth season's "Disappearance", Corey Stuart, played by Gary Cooper
look-alike Robert Bray
. Lassie would become the companion, not of boys, but of rugged, outdoorsy men sometimes working in dangerous places and situations.
Producers sent the Martin family to Australia where Paul would teach agriculture. Lockhart commented wryly, "We were supposed to go over there so that Paul could show the Australians how to grow things. We hadn't had a successful bean crop in six seasons. What could they possibly learn from us?" Lassie's three human companions then made their last appearances in the first part of the opening three part episode of the eleventh season, "The Wayfarers" (1964
). Lassie was forced to remain in the States due to Australia's strict quarantine
regulations, and, though the dog would become the companion animal of a succession of forestry workers and see several seasons of new adventures, Timmy Martin would never be seen, heard, or referenced again on the show.
for Lassie were the Martin family years: #24 in 1957, #22 in 1958, #15 in 1959, #15 in 1961, #21 in 1962, #13 in 1963, and #17 in 1964. The only year the show did not climb into the top twenty-five was 1960, when it ran opposite Walt Disney Presents on ABC
and Shirley Temple Theatre on NBC
. With the departure of the Martin family in the eleventh season, the show began a steady decline in ratings.
. Provost returned to play the role of Timmy, who was now an adult who went by the name Steve McCullough. In the seventh episode of the series June Lockhart also reprises her role as Ruth Martin, and viewers are told that Timmy was never properly adopted by the Martins. As such he was left behind when Paul and Ruth emigrated to Australia at the end of the original Lassie causing him to feel extremely bitter towards the Martins, and changed to using his real first name of Steve instead of his middle name Timmy, and took on his new adoptive parents last name. At the end of the episode, he is reconciled with his former adoptive mother.
Photographic and painted images of Jon Provost as Timmy Martin wearing his red-and-white gingham checked shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers were frequently used to promote a variety of merchandise marketed during Timmy years of the show. Provost as Timmy appeared on the covers of Whitman novels, a punch out book, Dell comic books
, Campbell's Soup labels and in the soup company's television commercials. A complete line of boys' wear—shirts, pants, sweaters, ties, and more—bore the label: Jon Provost, Timmy of the Lassie series.
Jon Provost
Jon Provost is a former child actor of film and television. He is best known for his role as young Timmy Martin in the CBS series, Lassie....
in the long-running television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Lassie
Lassie (1954 TV series)
Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie named Lassie and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973...
(1954–1973). Provost debuted in the first episode of the fourth season, "The Runaway" (1957), as the fictional foster child of farm woman Ellen Miller. Both the character and its portrayer were hits with the show's audience. In the middle of the fourth season series star George Cleveland died unexpectedly and producers were forced to overhaul the show. Timmy was adopted by newcomers to the series Paul Martin
Paul Martin (television character)
Paul Martin is a fictional character on the long running television series, Lassie . Paul is a farmer, and the husband of Ruth, a housewife. The couple are adoptive parents of Timmy, a foster child living on a small farm in the American midwest that the couple purchase...
and his wife, Ruth
Ruth Martin (television character)
Ruth Martin is a fictional character on the long running television series, Lassie . She was briefly played by Cloris Leachman before June Lockhart stepped into the role...
, who purchase the Miller farm.
Once the Timmy years of the show were launched, Lassie enjoyed its highest ratings, with Timmy appearing in all 226 episodes between his debut and his final appearance in the first episode of the 1964-1965 season. The Timmy character appeared in comic books, novels, Viewmaster reels, and other spinoff materials related to the show. Provost briefly reprised the character as an adult Timmy in the syndicated series, The New Lassie
The New Lassie
The New Lassie was an American television series which aired in first-run syndication for two seasons beginning in 1989, reviving the beloved "Lassie" collie character who debuted in the 1943 film Lassie Come Home, followed by several more movies and a long-running earlier Lassie television series...
(1989–1990). Jon Provost was nominated in 2003 for a TV Land award connected to his participation in Lassie.
Role in Lassie
In the opener of the fourth season, "The Runaway" fictional midwestern farm family Ellen Miller (Jan Clayton), her son Jeff (Tommy Rettig), and her father-in-lawFather-in-law
A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship...
, George Miller (George Cleveland
George Cleveland
George Alan Cleveland was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in over 180 films between 1933 and 1954.-Career:...
) discover a seven-year-old tattered runaway hiding in their barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
. Timmy, they later learn, has fled his aged and ill relatives believing he is a burden on their slim resources. Ellen contacts the boy's relatives and a social worker, and all agree Timmy would benefit from a summer on the farm.
Midway in the fourth season, Ellen sells the farm to a young couple, Ruth and Paul Martin (Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award...
and Jon Shepodd
Jon Shepodd
Jon Shepodd is an American actor.On television, he was the first actor to play the role of Paul Martin in the long running series Lassie, making his debut mid-fourth season opposite Cloris Leachman as his wife Ruth Martin....
) after the death of her father-in-law. The Martins adopt
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
Timmy, and Jeff leaves Lassie on the farm with Timmy when he moves to the city, knowing the dog could never adjust to life in a busy city. Leachman and Shepodd would finish the fourth season and then be dropped. Their characters would be played thereafter by Hugh Reilly
Hugh Reilly
Hugh Reilly was an American actor, appearing on the Broadway stage, in films, and on television. He is best remembered for co-starring in the mid-1950s television series Lassie.-Early years and career:...
and June Lockhart
June Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...
.
In the fourth season episode, "The Ring", Paul's uncle Petrie (George Chandler
George Chandler
George Chandler was an American actor best known for playing the character of "Uncle Petrie" on the television series Lassie...
) joins the cast but proved unpopular with the audience and left the show in the fifth season.
An attempt was made (but failed) to pair Timmy with a pal his own age. Kelly Junge, Jr. played Scott Richards through the last half of the fourth season but did not return for the fifth. Todd Ferrell as Ralph "Boomer" Bates, a chubby, beanie-wearing character, entered the show to recreate something of the popular Jeff and Porky friendship from the Miller years. "Boomer" never became an audience favorite and was dropped at the end of the fifth season. Thereafter, Timmy never had another steady chum on the show though classmate Wilhelmina "Willy" Brewster (Linda Wrather, 1957–1961, daughter of the show's producers Jack Wrather
Jack Wrather
John Devereaux "Jack" Wrather, Jr. , was a petroleum millionaire who became a television producer and later diversified by investing in broadcast stations and resort properties...
and Bonita Granville
Bonita Granville
Bonita Granville was an American film actress and television producer.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Granville was the daughter of stage actors, and made her film debut at the age of nine in Westward Passage...
Wrather) made several appearances.
In 1959, veteran actor and comedian Andy Clyde
Andy Clyde
Andy Clyde was a Scottish movie and TV actor whose career spanned more than four decades. He broke into silent films in 1925 as a Mack Sennett comic...
was cast in the show's "grandfatherly" role of Cully Wilson, an eccentric farmer, nature lover, and Martin family neighbor. Timmy and Cully were scripted into many adventures together, and Cully became one of Timmy's several adult friends that included Fire Chief Ed Washburne (Dick Foran
Dick Foran
John Nicholas 'Dick' Foran was an American actor, known for his performances in western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures.-Life and career:...
), veterinarian Doc Weaver (Arthur Space
Arthur Space
Charles Arthur Space was an American film, television and stage actor. He was best known as Doc Weaver in the long running television series, Lassie.-Career:...
), telephone operator Jenny (Florence Lake
Florence Lake
For the reservoir in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, see Florence Lake .Florence Lake was an American actress best known as the leading lady in most of the Edgar Kennedy comedy shorts.-Early life:In the early 1900s, her father and uncle toured with a circus in an aerial act known as...
), and Sheriff Miller (Robert Foulk). Cully was a hit and, as a result, producers curtailed Paul's presence in the series, fearing two adult males on the show would overwhelm the audience.
As the series aged and environmental issues
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
became a real-life concern across America, producers introduced the subject into the show at the request of the United States Forestry Service. Characters on the show were placed in situations concerning such issues. Timmy and Cully, for example, protest the proposed construction of a road through a pristine forested area. In other episodes, Timmy spearheads a classroom tree planting project called Operation Woodland, he traps and relocates (rather than kills), the beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
s wreaking havoc with a local waterway, he builds bluebird nesting boxes, and feeds wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
during severe winter weather.
In 1963, the multi-part episode, "The Journey" was edited into a feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
called Lassie's Great Adventure. The show's three principal human stars appeared in their well known roles. In the film, Timmy and Lassie are swept away in a carnival hot air balloon which finally descends far from home in the Canadian wilderness. The two travelers have several adventures before being rescued by the Mounties
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
. Ruth's role is confined to tearfully worrying about Timmy and finding comfort in Paul's arms. The couple fly to the wilderness to be at hand when Timmy is found. The episode was the only episode filmed in color during the Martin family seasons.
Creation
Lassie debuted in September 1954 and, as its fourth season approached in 1957, child star Tommy RettigTommy Rettig
Thomas Noel "Tommy" Rettig was an American child actor,computer software engineer, and author. Rettig is best remembered for portraying the character "Jeff Miller" in the first three seasons of CBS's Lassie television series, from 1954–1957, later seen in syndicated re-runs as Jeff's Collie...
was fifteen-years-old, dating, and driving cars. He wanted to leave the show. His co-star Jan Clayton was considering a return to her roots in musical theater.
Millionaire oilman Jack Wrather
Jack Wrather
John Devereaux "Jack" Wrather, Jr. , was a petroleum millionaire who became a television producer and later diversified by investing in broadcast stations and resort properties...
had recently purchased the show from producer Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell (producer)
Robert Maxwell Joffe was an American radio and television producer, screenwriter, and entertainment executive...
and anticipated a long and successful run for his $3,250,000 Emmy-winning investment, but he was concerned that Rettig was growing too old for the boy and his dog plot. Aware of the stars' wishes, executives reworked the show intending to introduced new characters and eventually write the Rettig and Clayton characters out of the show. A seven-year-old character called Timmy was woven into the plot. The character was named for Associate Producer Bonita Granville
Bonita Granville
Bonita Granville was an American film actress and television producer.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Granville was the daughter of stage actors, and made her film debut at the age of nine in Westward Passage...
Wrather's mother, "Timmie."
Casting
With a new storyline waiting in the wings, Bonita GranvilleBonita Granville
Bonita Granville was an American film actress and television producer.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Granville was the daughter of stage actors, and made her film debut at the age of nine in Westward Passage...
Wrather personally selected Jon Provost
Jon Provost
Jon Provost is a former child actor of film and television. He is best known for his role as young Timmy Martin in the CBS series, Lassie....
, a child actor with several film credits, for the role of Timmy. Provost was the only actor considered for the role. The Timmy character debuted in the fourth season opener, "The Runaway" and was an instant hit with audiences.
Leaving the show
As the LassieLassie (1954 TV series)
Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie named Lassie and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973...
1964 season approached, Jon Provost
Jon Provost
Jon Provost is a former child actor of film and television. He is best known for his role as young Timmy Martin in the CBS series, Lassie....
was a fourteen-year-old with his contract up for a three-year renewal. Provost however did not look forward to playing Timmy Martin until the age of seventeen, describing the role as a "vacuum" and stating,
"The character wasn't changing. If they had let him grow up a little, maybe I would have wanted to stay on. I knew that I wasn't going to sign up for another three years, and my parents were behind me all the way."
Stars Lockhart, Reilly, and Andy Clyde
Andy Clyde
Andy Clyde was a Scottish movie and TV actor whose career spanned more than four decades. He broke into silent films in 1925 as a Mack Sennett comic...
received their notices, with producer Bob Golden telling the press they'd done all the "boy and his dog" stories possible. With only Provost and producers knowing the real reasons for the show changes, speculation among the cast hinted that the decision to clean house was based on money. Lockhart was quoted as saying Provost's mother wanted too much money, and Reilly later stated that the producers' decision was based upon trading four advanced salaries for [Robert Bray's] starting salary.
Associate producer Bonita Granville
Bonita Granville
Bonita Granville was an American film actress and television producer.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Granville was the daughter of stage actors, and made her film debut at the age of nine in Westward Passage...
Wrather kept the audience guessing through the summer of 1964 about the show's future by stating,
"We have built up such an adult audience; we are looking for stories with a wider scope. That's what our whole purpose will be in making any change that people might think we're making...our ratings have jumped in the past two years and it's because we do new things."
Without a boy in the cast as a principal character, producers reworked the show from a different angle. Several episodes which featured Lassie in the wilds such as "The Odyssey" and "The Journey" had proven popular with audiences. Jack Wrather and his associates decided to take Lassie off the farm and send her into the wilderness with a Forest Ranger who had previously appeared on the show in the tenth season's "Disappearance", Corey Stuart, played by Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
look-alike Robert Bray
Robert Bray
Robert E. Bray was an American film and television actor probably best remembered for his role as the forest ranger Corey Stuart in the long-running CBS series Lassie.-Life and career:...
. Lassie would become the companion, not of boys, but of rugged, outdoorsy men sometimes working in dangerous places and situations.
Producers sent the Martin family to Australia where Paul would teach agriculture. Lockhart commented wryly, "We were supposed to go over there so that Paul could show the Australians how to grow things. We hadn't had a successful bean crop in six seasons. What could they possibly learn from us?" Lassie's three human companions then made their last appearances in the first part of the opening three part episode of the eleventh season, "The Wayfarers" (1964
1964 in television
The year 1964 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1964.For the American TV schedule, see: 1964-65 American network television schedule.-Events:...
). Lassie was forced to remain in the States due to Australia's strict quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
regulations, and, though the dog would become the companion animal of a succession of forestry workers and see several seasons of new adventures, Timmy Martin would never be seen, heard, or referenced again on the show.
Awards, nominations, and honors
Jon Provost received a 2003 TV Land Favorite Pet Human Relationship Award nomination for Lassie (1954). The actor has also received a Star on the Walk of Fame (Television) at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard, and, in 1990, a Young Artists Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award. Long after the show's cancellation, Provost's Keds were placed on display in the Smithsonian Institution's television collections.Rankings
The highest rankings in the Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
for Lassie were the Martin family years: #24 in 1957, #22 in 1958, #15 in 1959, #15 in 1961, #21 in 1962, #13 in 1963, and #17 in 1964. The only year the show did not climb into the top twenty-five was 1960, when it ran opposite Walt Disney Presents on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and Shirley Temple Theatre on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. With the departure of the Martin family in the eleventh season, the show began a steady decline in ratings.
Appearances in other media
The character Timmy Martin was reprised for the 1989 syndicated series The New LassieThe New Lassie
The New Lassie was an American television series which aired in first-run syndication for two seasons beginning in 1989, reviving the beloved "Lassie" collie character who debuted in the 1943 film Lassie Come Home, followed by several more movies and a long-running earlier Lassie television series...
. Provost returned to play the role of Timmy, who was now an adult who went by the name Steve McCullough. In the seventh episode of the series June Lockhart also reprises her role as Ruth Martin, and viewers are told that Timmy was never properly adopted by the Martins. As such he was left behind when Paul and Ruth emigrated to Australia at the end of the original Lassie causing him to feel extremely bitter towards the Martins, and changed to using his real first name of Steve instead of his middle name Timmy, and took on his new adoptive parents last name. At the end of the episode, he is reconciled with his former adoptive mother.
Merchandise
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
, Campbell's Soup labels and in the soup company's television commercials. A complete line of boys' wear—shirts, pants, sweaters, ties, and more—bore the label: Jon Provost, Timmy of the Lassie series.