Ruddell "Rudd" Weatherwax (September 23, 1907 – February 25, 1985) was an American actor and animal trainer. He and his brother Frank Weatherwax are best remembered for training dogs for motion pictures and television. Frank's collie, Pal, became the original Lassie, handled by Rudd for the 1943 MGM film Lassie Come Home. He also handled the dogs for the Lassie television series which ran from 1954 to 1974, and the 1957 feature film Old Yeller. September 23 is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years). ... 1907 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... and http://www. ... This article is about the type of dog. ... Lassie, a Rough Collie, is the worlds most famous dog and a fictional character who has starred in many movies, TV shows, and books over the years. ... For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ... Lassie Come Home is a 1943 film which tells the story of a poor boys dog who, when sold to a rich nobleman, makes a difficult journey to return home to her original owner. ... Old Yeller was a classic 1957 film made by Walt Disney Productions. ...

Pal became a movie star through a weather-related event. MGM, which had decided to use a show collie trained by Frank Inn in the movie, took advantage of a massive flooding of the Sacramento River in northern California to obtain some spectacular footage for the film. Their fancy collie was still in training, so MGM hired Pal as a stand-in for the river scene. Although the work was actually considered complicated for an animal actor, the dog performed exceptionally well. Frank Inn (May 8, 1916–July 27, 2002) was an American actor and animal trainer. ... A spring at the Sacramento River headwater The Sacramento River is the longest river in the state of California. ... State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ...

According to legend, after seeing the first prints, the head of MGM, Louis B. Mayer, stated that "Pal had entered the water, but Lassie had come out," and a new star was born. Louis B. Mayer (July 4, 1885–October 29, 1957) was an American film producer. ...

External links

• Rudd Weatherwax (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0915803/) at the Internet Movie Database
• Weatherwax Family homepage (http://home.att.net/~weatherwax/index.htm)
• Lassie Network - Rudd Weatherwax webpage (http://www.lassie.net/rudd.htm)