Terry (dog)
Terry (born November 17, 1933 in Altadena , † 1944 or 1945 ) was a Cairn Terrier bitch who appeared in numerous films. The bitch became known through her appearance as "Toto" in the classic film The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Life
Terry was born in California and initially belonged to a childless couple in Pasadena . After the young dog could not be house-trained, the owners handed the animal over to the dog trainer Carl Spitz , who actually specialized in training show and film dogs. Spitz quickly managed to raise Terry as desired, but her owners were no longer interested in her and did not pay the bill, so the bitch remained in Spitz's possession. Spitz eventually also trained Terry as a movie dog. She has appeared in more than ten Hollywood films, including Bright Eyes (1934) with Shirley Temple and The Wizard of Oz , where she played the dog Toto. Dorothy, Toto's owner, was played by Judy Garland . One of the most difficult scenes for the bitch was a scene in which she had to be on an opening drawbridge. At $ 125 a week, Terry received a higher salary than many actors who worked on the production - such as the Singer's Midgets troupe put together by Leopold von Singer and who played the Munchkins. During filming, she was broken her foot by an actor who accidentally stepped on her. After becoming popularly known as Toto through the film, her name was officially changed in 1942.
Carl Spitz allegedly buried Terry on his Studio City farm after her death . The grave fell victim to the construction of the Ventura Freeway in 1958. According to other sources, after the dog died, it was stuffed and later auctioned.
Willard Carroll, who may have the largest collection of Oz memorabilia in the world, wrote an "autobiography" of Terry from the canine perspective. It has the title I, Toto. The Autobiography of Terry, the Dog who was Toto .
Since 2011 there has been a memorial to Terry in Hollywood Forever Cemetery .
Filmography
- 1934: Ready for Love
- 1934: Laughing Eyes (Bright Eyes)
- 1935: The road in the dark (The Dark Angel)
- 1936: Blind Fury (Fury)
- 1938: The Buccaneer
- 1938: Stablemates
- 1939: The Wizard of Oz (The Wizard of Oz)
- 1939: The Women (The Women)
- 1939: Bad Little Angel
- 1940: Calling Philo Vance
- 1940: Cinderella's Feller
- 1941: The Chocolate Soldier
- 1942: Twin Beds
- 1942: George Washington Slept Here
- 1942: Tortilla Flat