50 Fun Facts About Lassie

Lassie is a fictional dog of which breed?

Every screen Lassie since 1943 has been a male descendant of one dog, Pal.

Lassie first appeared in a 1938 short story published in which magazine?

Eric Knight expanded it into the novel Lassie Come-Home two years later.

In what year was Eric Knight's full-length novel Lassie Come-Home published?

It grew out of the 1938 short story and reached cinemas three years later.

In which English county is the novel Lassie Come-Home set?

The Depression-era story follows a collie's long journey home to her young master.

How did Lassie's creator Eric Knight die in January 1943?

He was a US Army major in Special Services when his C-54 went down in Dutch Guiana, months before the first film opened.

Which studio made the 1943 film Lassie Come Home?

It was the first of seven MGM Lassie films, all in Technicolor.

Which two young stars appeared in the 1943 film Lassie Come Home?

McDowall played Joe Carraclough, the boy who loses his dog when his family is forced to sell her.

In Lassie Come Home, the Carracloughs sell their collie to which aristocrat?

He carries her hundreds of miles to Scotland, and she walks all the way back.

For which Academy Award was the 1943 film Lassie Come Home nominated?

It was added to the National Film Registry in 1993.

What was the name of the dog who played Lassie in the 1943 film and six more MGM features?

He was male, born in June 1940 at Glamis Kennels in North Hollywood.

How did Pal win the role of Lassie after producers had hired a female collie?

The director reportedly had tears in his eyes; the first six weeks were reshot with Pal.

Who was Pal's owner and trainer, who later acquired the Lassie name and trademark from MGM?

His family has supplied every Lassie since, all descended from Pal.

The dogs who play Lassie have all been of which sex?

Pal died in June 1958, aged 18, and his son Lassie Junior took over.

In which year did the Lassie television series debut?

It ran until March 1973, first on CBS and then in syndication.

On which network did Lassie air for its first 17 seasons?

It won its Sunday 7 p.m. time slot every year of that run.

How many episodes of the Lassie TV series were produced in total?

That is 19 seasons, from September 1954 to March 1973.

Who played Lassie's first TV master, farm boy Jeff Miller?

His father, a soldier, had been killed in World War II, leaving Jeff with his mother Ellen and Gramps.

Which actor played the orphan Timmy, Lassie's master from 1957 to 1964?

He titled his autobiography 'Timmy's in the Well!', a joke on a scene that never happened.

Who played Ruth Martin, Timmy's adoptive mother, from 1958 to 1964?

She had already been in the Lassie universe, co-starring in the 1945 film Son of Lassie.

Which future Oscar winner played Ruth Martin for a single season, 1957 to 1958?

Another actress replaced her, and Hugh Reilly likewise replaced Jon Shepodd as Paul Martin.

After the Martin family left, Lassie was taken in by Corey Stuart, who worked as what?

Robert Bray played him from 1964 to 1968, the start of the show's 'Ranger years'.

Under what title were the first 116 episodes of Lassie later syndicated?

Episodes 117 to 352 were sold as 'Timmy & Lassie'.

The famous whistled Lassie theme that debuted in season five was composed by whom?

The whistling itself was performed by Muzzy Marcellino.

In what year did the Lassie TV series switch from black and white to colour?

By then Lassie had moved from the farm to the forest service.

How many Emmy Awards did the Lassie TV series win?

It took Best Children's Program in 1955 and 1956, plus a Peabody in 1956.

Which pseudonym did producer Robert Maxwell use when writing many early Lassie episodes?

The writing team of Robert Schaefer and Eric Freiwald handled more than 150 episodes.

Timmy Martin's shirt, jeans and Keds from the show are on display where?

Lassie herself received the 1967 US Department of Agriculture Conservation Award.

Which of these was NOT one of the collies who played Lassie on the TV series?

Lassie Junior, Spook, Baby, Mire and Hey Hey all took turns in the role.

Lassie is one of only three animals with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Which are the other two?

Both of the others were silent-film dog stars.

In 2005, Variety named Lassie to which list, as its only animal?

She has also marketed her own line of pet food.

Which studio made Lassie's Rescue Rangers, the animated ABC series of 1973–75?

It followed the end of the live-action series that same year.

A Japanese anime series about Lassie aired in which year?

Famous Dog Lassie was one of several international revivals of the character.

The 1997 Lassie TV series was produced by Canadian company Cinar for which US network?

It also aired on YTV in Canada and ran until 1999.

Which studio released the 1994 film Lassie, directed by Daniel Petrie?

It debuted at number nine at the US box office and starred Tom Guiry and Helen Slater.

The collie in the 1994 film Lassie was what generation descendant of the original Pal?

Michelle Williams and Richard Farnsworth were also in the cast.

Which veteran actor starred with Samantha Morton in the 2005 British remake of Lassie Come Home?

The film reached US screens in 2006.

The 1945 sequel Son of Lassie starred which leading man?

Elizabeth Taylor returned the next year for Courage of Lassie.

Until what year did the Lassie radio show air?

Radio Lassie overlapped with the MGM films and ended before the TV series began.

Which producer, whose wife Bonita Granville narrated many episodes, owned Lassie for most of its run?

Bonita Granville was herself a former child star and Nancy Drew of the 1930s.

What is Eric Knight's other famous novel, a significant work about the Second World War?

It was filmed in 1942 with Tyrone Power and Joan Fontaine.

Where was the Lassie TV series filmed?

The 'farm' and later the ranger's forests were both Californian locations and sound stages.

What theme opened and closed the first season of the Lassie TV series?

The better-known whistled theme did not arrive until season five.

The New Adventures of Lassie (2014) reached US viewers in 2020 on which service?

The hand-drawn series was co-produced by Superprod Animation and Classic Media.

Who directed the 1943 film Lassie Come Home?

Hugo Butler wrote the screenplay from Eric Knight's 1940 novel.

In which year was Lassie Come Home added to the US National Film Registry?

The Library of Congress deemed it 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'.

In the 1943 film, where does the Duke take Lassie, hundreds of miles from Yorkshire?

The Duke's granddaughter Priscilla senses the dog's unhappiness and helps her escape.

Where does the TV Lassie place among the longest-running scripted American primetime series?

It ran from September 1954 to March 1973, 17 seasons on CBS plus two in syndication.

To which country did the Martin family emigrate, leaving Lassie behind after season ten?

Paul Martin took a job teaching agriculture there, so Lassie went to Forest Ranger Corey Stuart instead.

Which traditional folk tune became the Lassie theme for the show's final seasons?

Nathan Scott's arrangement replaced the orchestral 'Whistler' from season 17 onward.

Jon Provost's autobiography title jokes about the one hazard his character never fell into. What?

Timmy fell down mine shafts, off cliffs and into rivers, lakes and quicksand, but never a well.