Frank Thrall Weatherwax (June 23, 1902 – December 17, 1991) was an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and animal trainer. He is best remembered with his brother Rudd Weatherwax for their famous collie,

Pal Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a color encoding system for analog television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

, the dog who became famous as Lassie in the 1943

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

film '' Lassie Come Home''. He also trained and owned the dog Spike, who performed as the

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

dog in the 1957 film '' Old Yeller''. He also trained the dog Lightning, for the 1935 movie ''A Dog of Flanders''.

Early years

Weatherwax was born in Camp Palomas,

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...

.Camp Palomas, now Las Palomas, is an unincorporated community located in Sierra County, about 6 miles south of

Truth or Consequences ''Truth or Consequences'' is an American game show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards (1940–57) and later on television by Edwards (1950–54), Jack Bailey (1954–56), Bob Barker (1956–75), Steve Dunne (1957–58), Bob Hi ...

. It uses the ZIP code for Williamsburg, New Mexico, 87942. He was the brother of Rudd Weatherwax, actor and animal trainer, and uncle of actor Ken Weatherwax. His family moved to Hollywood after World War I.

Career

Weatherwax began his career in films as a stunt rider. Later he and his brother began training animals for films and formed a company to provide trained animals.

Notes

References

External links

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Profile
canineprofessionals.com 1902 births 1991 deaths American male silent film actors Dog trainers Male actors from New Mexico People from Sierra County, New Mexico 20th-century American male actors {{US-film-actor-1900s-stub