Hollywood has a way of getting us to fall in love. If it isn’t with an actor or actress, then they have us falling in love with an idea or even a place that existed once only in a writer’s mind. But they don’t have to work very hard to get us to fall in love with the loveable pets the characters on screen can call their best buds. That, dear readers, is the easy part. Today we’ll be looking back at 10 beloved Hollywood dogs.
The life of a Hollywood dog isn’t an easy one and they have to go through extensive training to be chosen for a given part, but their respective legacies have lasted a long time and will still, and their spots in our hearts will remain strong for years to come.
Join us as we celebrate these 10 Hollywood dogs that kept us company as we watched the action and laughs unfold on screen…
Murray from Mad About You
Murray was a Collie-mix, and he was of course Paul and Jamie’s beloved dog. For the duration of that show, Paul and Jamie didn’t have any children—the couple finally coming to the doorstep of parenthood in the final season or two of the show.
But it was for the longest time that Murray was their only companion as they lived their whacky and zany adventures, and he was often a scene stealer, he having many episodes even all about him, as it most certainly should be.
Eddie from Frasier
Well, Eddie and Frasier Crane didn’t always get along, and no, Eddie wasn’t Frasier’s brother, but he was his dad’s beloved dog…one that moved in right along with him in season one when Frasier took his dad in, a retired police officer.
Of course Eddie and Frasier didn’t necessarily always see eye to eye, as stated, but Frasier came to love Eddie, who was a Jack Russell terrier, in his own way.
Butkus from Rocky
This is a funny story because Butkus, who is featured in Rocky 1, was actually Sylvester Stallone’s real-life dog. In the struggle to make it as an actor, he had to sell Butkus because he couldn’t afford dog food, but the minute that check came in from his first week of work on Rocky, so did Butkus come back, and he was forever immortalized in the first two Rocky movies.
Interestingly enough, recently Sylvester Stallone was having issues with his wife of 25 years, Jennifer Flavin, and it looked as though they were headed for divorce. Sly, who once had a tattoo of his wife on his arm, actually replaced Flavin’s face with a tattoo of Butkus, the Bull Mastiff. He has stated that the new tattoo was to simply fix an issue with the old tattoo, but many speculated that the possibility of the lurking divorce had something to do with it.
Anyways, the divorce was officially dismissed, according to the Toronto Sun. Just shows how much someone can love their dog though, eh?
Reno from Top Dog
And speaking of action heroes from the eighties, nineties and beyond, Chuck Norris was a force of one back in the day (Chuck Norris fans, see what I did there?)…and it was when his feature film career started to wind down slightly, as he was enjoying quite the career on TV with Walker, Texas Ranger (the original), that he starred in a buddy cop movie, only his buddy was in fact a troublesome but adorable dog named Reno.
Hooch from Turner and Hooch
And while we’re on the subject of cop and dog teams, why not reference the original Turner and Hooch, starring Tom Hanks and of course, Beasley the Dog as Hooch.
Hooch was a Dogue De Bordeaux, and was an impressive 110 plus pounds of furry cuddliness.
Comet from Full House
Named after Danny Tanner’s penchant for being clean, the name is as adorable as the dog that played him was. We’ve since lost the hilarious Bob Saget, but his role as Danny Tanner was one that he will definitely be remembered for, and his hilarious interactions with the adorable Golden Retriever will stay etched in our collective hearts for years to come, I’m sure.
The Littlest Hobo from The Littlest Hobo
The melancholy-drenched Littlest Hobo (that featured a German Shepherd as the title character) was a show that perhaps many of us watched in our youth, and along with a theme song that was tinged in the aforementioned melancholy, I couldn’t help but feel a massive dose of pathos for this dog, who never seemed to settle down in one location, and was always on the move from one adventure to another.
I can remember just wanting him to find a home where he could cuddle up on his favorite blanket by the fire on cold nights and eat his favorite kibble, and be loved and cared for. A massive part of me still imagines him out there, on the move, running past some mountain range in search of only he knows what….
Santa’s Little Helper from The Simpsons
Okay, okay, so he’s a cartoon Greyhound, but man is Santa’s Little Helper a scene stealer on that show. The Simpsons has been at it now for over three decades and it’s still funny, and scenes with this little guy still make me crack up. Don’t lie. I know they do the same for you.
Toto from The Wizard of Oz
This film absolutely terrified me in my youth. But then I turned 20…just kidding. I was about five the first time I saw this film, and the Wicked Witch and her flying monkeys definitely caused me to lose some sleep, I must admit, but Toto helped alleviate some of that fear and uneasiness, and for some reason so did the Cowardly Lion.
Toto was a Cairn Terrier Dog, and he warmed the hearts of the world, as did the enigmatical and cinematic gem that was Judy Garland.
Diefenbaker from Due South
Oh man…tops on this list is of course Diefenbaker from Due South. The show was about a Mountie who is in search of the man that killed his father. The search brings him to Chicago where he is partnered with a tough as nails Chicago cop, but of course Benton Fraser did not come alone…he brought his Siberian Husky pup along with him, and at times Diefenbaker, who was named after Canada’s 13th Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker, was better at catching the criminals the two men were after. Interestingly, Diefenbaker could read lips in both the English language and in the language of Canada’s north Inuit community, Inuktitut.
Any Hollywood dogs you remember from the shows or films you loved? Let us know, dear which Hollywood dog was your favorite.