Jonathan Bion Provost (born March 12, 1950) is an American actor, best known for his role as young Timmy Martin in the
CBS series ''
Lassie''.
Life and career
Provost was born in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. At the age of four, Provost was cast in the film ''
The Country Girl'' (1954), starring
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
and
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982), also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. ...
. He then appeared in ''
Back from Eternity
''Back from Eternity'' is a 1956 American Drama (film and television), drama film about a planeload of people stranded in the South American jungle and subsequently menaced by Headhunting, headhunters. The film stars Robert Ryan, Rod Steiger, An ...
'' (1956) with
Anita Ekberg and ''
Escapade in Japan'' (1957), with
Teresa Wright
Muriel Teresa Wright (October 27, 1918 – March 6, 2005) was an American actress. She won the 1942 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Carol Beldon in ''Mrs. Miniver''. She was nominated for the same award in 1941 for her ...
,
Cameron Mitchell, and an unknown and
uncredited Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...
.
In 1957, Provost won the role of Timmy Martin in the CBS television series ''
Lassie''. He joined the show at the top of the fourth season as co-star with
Tommy Rettig,
Jan Clayton, and
George Cleveland. Midway through the season, George Cleveland died and Rettig and Clayton departed. The show was revamped to focus on Provost as Timmy. The following year, he met
June Lockhart
June Lockhart (born June 25, 1925) is an American retired actress, beginning a film career in the 1930s and 1940s in such films as A Christmas Carol (1938 film), ''A Christmas Carol'' and ''Meet Me in St. Louis''. She appeared primarily in 1950 ...
on the set, who would play his mother, Ruth Martin, and would remain close friends. They are the last surviving regular cast members of that revamped series. On December 25, 1958, Provost and Lassie were holiday guests on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
's ''
The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford''.
For seven seasons, 1957–1964, audiences grew to love Timmy and his adventures with Lassie. Timmy's canine companion was played by three dogs that were all descendants of
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 original Lassie from the MGM films: Pal's son Lassie Jr. and his grandsons Baby and Spook. In a 2014 interview, Provost said: "I worked with Baby for five years straight. Obviously, he and I really bonded. He was my favorite and I also thought he was the most intelligent of the ones I worked with. They were all great dogs."
In 1964, however, Provost was 14 and chose not to renew his contract, although
Campbell's Soup Company, the sponsor, wanted three more years.
Provost continued working in television and films, including ''
This Property is Condemned'' with
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood (née Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress. She began acting at age four and co-starred at age eight in ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947). As a teenager, she was nominated for an Academy Award f ...
and
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades such as an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, the ...
and ''
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
''The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes'' is a 1969 American science fiction comedy film starring Kurt Russell, Cesar Romero, Joe Flynn and William Schallert. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Comp ...
'' with
Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor before transitioning to leading roles as an adult in various genres such as action adventures, science-fiction, westerns, romance films, co ...
. Jon left Hollywood for college at
Sonoma State University
Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Sonoma County, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Sonoma State offers 92 bachelor's degree programs, 19 master's de ...
and chose to remain there, returning for occasional roles. Later, he sold
real estate in
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa.
Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...
and donated his time to various causes such as the Humane Society, Easter Seals, Canine Companions for Independence and local charities. He also attends celebrity conventions and autograph shows and works for other animal causes.
In 1990, Provost was honored by the
Young Artist Foundation with its
Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award for his role as Timmy Martin on the original ''
Lassie'' series,
and in 1989, he returned to television with a recurring role on ''
The New Lassie'' series as real estate agent Steve McCullough.
In 1994, Provost received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
at 7080 Hollywood Blvd. His
memoir
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...
, ''Timmy's in the Well: The Jon Provost Story'', was released in December 2007 (Cumberland House Publishing, ). In August 2008, Provost was honored with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the Pocono Mountains Film Festival. He has collaborated as a writer with his second wife author
Laurie Jacobson.
Article
by Sally Tippett Rains in ''STL Sports Page'' 2023-05-24
Filmography
Radio
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Provost, Jon
1950 births
Living people
Male actors from Los Angeles
American male child actors
American male television actors
American male film actors