Otherwise known as Eddie (of Frasier fame), Lassie (the original from the show), and Mr. Ed (from the show of the same name), they have all attained a fame to which most people can only aspire.
Eddie was the alternately lovable-annoying dog on the hit show Frasier, played by Moose, a mischievous Jack Russell terrier. Though the mischief he got into was not much, it was enough to annoy the finicky, snobby Frasier. But when the Kelsey Grammer, who played Frasier, received an Emmy for best actor in a comedy in 1994, he publicly acknowledged the dog saying, “Most important, Moose, this is for you”. Moose died of old age in 2006.
There was more than one Lassie, but the first to appear on the two TV pilots in 1954 was Pal. Thereafter, the part was played by five of Pal’s descendants (Lassie Junior, Spook, Baby, Mire, and Hey Hey) until the series ended in 1973. Lassie Junior played the part from 1954 to 1958 when he retired to fight cancer, a battle he won, though he never returned to the screen. Spook and Baby shared the part for a short time, then Baby took over during the Timmy years. It seems that Spook was never quite comfortable on the set after a light crashed to the floor during filming. Spook was apparently too spooked to go on. Mire took over from 1966 to 1970 during the so-called Ranger Years, and was followed by Hey Hey, who finished things out with Lassie at the children’s home.
Ironically, all the Lassie actors were male, though as the name would indicate, the dogs were referred as “girl” on the show. All the Lassies except Baby, who died at only age eight, lived to be at least seventeen years old.
Bamboo Harvester was a palomino gelding who became famous as Mr. Ed, the talking horse. The only problem for the Wilbur, his owner on the series, is that Ed would only talk to him, thus preventing Wilbur from making the requisite fortune that would obviously result.
So how did they get Mr. Ed to move his lips, anyway? Did they really put peanut butter in his mouth? Actually, Alan Young, who played Wilbur, admitted that the peanut butter rumor was actually started by him. The trainers actually put pieces of nylon under Ed’s tongue, then on their cue, the well-trained horse would try to remove it. On occasion, nylon threads were used to pull Ed’s lips from above.
Still, the training involved with Bamboo, as well as the players of Lassie and Eddie, is a testimony to the skill of the trainers, but also the intelligence of the animals.
