dog stars in movies, tv shows & videos

One of the prominent movie studios focused on fun during the silent film era was Keystone Studios, founded by Mack Sennett, who was known as the "King of Comedy." The namesake Keystone Cops first appeared in 1912. The studio's first dog star, Luke the Dog, appeared in the comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's very popular movies beginning in 1914. By 1915, Luke the Dog was a "bone-afide" dog star, earning the title role of Fido in Fatty's Faithful Fido (1915), which launched the popularity of that name for pet dogs. Luke the Dog starred in a dozen more films through 1920,...

Rescued from a battlefield in France by an American World War I veteran, Rin Tin Tin appeared in his first film, The Man from Hell's River, in 1922. The German Shepherd became an instant dog star with his first leading role in Where the North Begins, which was released in 1923. It was the third of the 29 movies he performed in through 1931. In addition to huge box office sales, Rin Tin Tin movies were so popular that his merchandise generated significant additional revenue for Warner Brothers studio. And when television came along, a whole new generation of families became enthralled with this heroic dog...

Charlie Chaplin features dogs in more than one of his movies, but his first one—and the only one to feature Mut—is a true classic of the silent picture era. Mut's empathetic performance as "Scraps" made him a true dog star, but he unfortunately never made another film. Thanks to SEPL Vintage for posting the video.   Film poster for the 1918 Charlie Chaplin movie A Dog's Life.

This 1905 classic British short film by Cecil Hepworth features Blair, the first canine star in the movies. This short film takes less than 7 minutes to tell the tale of the heroic Rover. Major props to Blair for his award-worthy performance. It's unfortunate they didn't start handing out Oscars until 1929, because Blair surely deserves one for "Best Lead Actor." In fairness, Mr. Hepworth did an excellent job as the creator of the first film featuring a dog, but he could have thrown in a few close-ups of that very cute collie.   This historic film became a huge hit and was remade...