Robert Weatherwax(1941-2024)
- Additional Crew
- Director
- Writer
My name is Bob Weatherwax. My father was Rudd B. Weatherwax, best known as the original owner and trainer of Lassie. My father and I were the trainers of some of Hollywood's most famous dogs.
From my Dad's work with Asta in the original Thin Man series, up until my work with Einstein (the dog in Back to the Future), we have created a long and storied legacy of trained dogs in the motion picture industry. Of course, the most memorable animal in our work was none other than Lassie, the cultural icon of both movies and television.
My family's journey began with my grandfather, Walter S. Weatherwax, who was a deputy United States Marshal in the New Mexico Territory. He was also an inventor, and even a trick-rider in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.
Economic hard times brought Walter to Hollywood, when the film industry was in its infancy. At that time, some of Hollywood's silent legends were making their mark on American culture. Among the stars was a German shepherd named Rin Tin Tin. It was in that unique place and time, that Walter and his sons, (Rudd, Frank, and Jack), made their own mark on American movie history.
My father's brother, Jack, was the trainer of Toto in the 1939 classic, Wizard of Oz. Dad's brother, Frank, trained Spike, the dog in Disney's Old Yeller. Rudd, my Dad, trained Asta, Daisy, and Lassie, the collie who would rise to super stardom. I worked with Dad from the early 1960's until his death in 1985. I carried on the Lassie legacy until 2002. Then, against my wishes, the Weatherwax family voted to sell the Lassie trademark.
Due to my father's genius, we transformed the training of dogs from simple props on a movie set into actors who seemed to behave with human-like emotions. Dad was a transitional figure in Hollywood animal training, and my experiences with him from childhood to adulthood have transformed my life and made me who I am today.
I hope that my father's life-long labor of love, of which I am proud to have shared by his side, will be uplifting in a world that - more than ever - needs some inspiration from the past.
From my Dad's work with Asta in the original Thin Man series, up until my work with Einstein (the dog in Back to the Future), we have created a long and storied legacy of trained dogs in the motion picture industry. Of course, the most memorable animal in our work was none other than Lassie, the cultural icon of both movies and television.
My family's journey began with my grandfather, Walter S. Weatherwax, who was a deputy United States Marshal in the New Mexico Territory. He was also an inventor, and even a trick-rider in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.
Economic hard times brought Walter to Hollywood, when the film industry was in its infancy. At that time, some of Hollywood's silent legends were making their mark on American culture. Among the stars was a German shepherd named Rin Tin Tin. It was in that unique place and time, that Walter and his sons, (Rudd, Frank, and Jack), made their own mark on American movie history.
My father's brother, Jack, was the trainer of Toto in the 1939 classic, Wizard of Oz. Dad's brother, Frank, trained Spike, the dog in Disney's Old Yeller. Rudd, my Dad, trained Asta, Daisy, and Lassie, the collie who would rise to super stardom. I worked with Dad from the early 1960's until his death in 1985. I carried on the Lassie legacy until 2002. Then, against my wishes, the Weatherwax family voted to sell the Lassie trademark.
Due to my father's genius, we transformed the training of dogs from simple props on a movie set into actors who seemed to behave with human-like emotions. Dad was a transitional figure in Hollywood animal training, and my experiences with him from childhood to adulthood have transformed my life and made me who I am today.
I hope that my father's life-long labor of love, of which I am proud to have shared by his side, will be uplifting in a world that - more than ever - needs some inspiration from the past.
