Old Hollywood With Animals

The regal Dolores Del Rio flanked by Jeanette MacDonald and Norma Shearer photographed by Alexander Paal for Glamour in 1939.

Myrna Loy as Nora Charles and "Asta" the Wire Fox Terrier (whose real name was Skippy) in a publicity portrait for the MGM/W. S. Van Dyke mystery comedy Shadow of the Thin Man, 1941. This was Skippy's last appearance in the Thin Man series (originating the character in 1934, he appeared as "Asta" four times), with his successor taking over the role in the remaining two movies. Enjoying his retirement, Skippy lived to be an impressive twenty years old, passing away in 1950. Fun Facts: Though Skippy was owned and primarily trained to be an animal actor by actress and comedienne Gale Henry East and her third husband Paul, his additional trainers were brothers Rudd and Frank Weatherwax, the uncles of Ken Weatherwax who later played Pugsley Addams on the 1960s television series The Addams Family. A happy, easy-going dog, Skippy was trained with love and treated respectfully by Gale and Henry East, with Gale stating in a 1938 magazine interview: "Treat a dog kindly and he'll do anything in the world for you." A star among animal actors, who were normally paid $3.50 per day at the time, Skippy received the princely sum of $250.00 per week for his services. Among his many other film appearances, Skippy made memorable turns as Cary Grant and Irene Dunne's dog "Mr. Smith" in the 1937 screwball comedy The Awful Truth, and with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant (again) as Hepburn's aunt's dog "George" in the screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby the following year.

Elizabeth Taylor, The Sandpiper, 1965

James Stewart with his dogs, Judy and Kelly (named after his daughters)

-Audrey in Paris by Meghan Friedlander (2024)

Audrey Hepburn visits with a fur-friend in Paris, photos by Sam Shaw, 1957.

Rita Hayworth on the set of You Were Never Lovelier, 1942

Jayne Mansfield cuddles her five month old English Bulldog named "Challenge" in London, 1959.

Audrey Hepburn (and her fawn Pippin) on the set of the 1959 MGM production Green Mansions, Hollywood, 1958.

Capucine

A very young Elizabeth Taylor and her older brother Howard pose with their cats "Jeepers" and "Creepers" and one of their spaniels in the backyard of their parents' Los Angeles home, 1944. Though Elizabeth enjoyed acting, Howard rebelled from efforts to also make him a star, objecting when MGM lightened his hair (as seen above) when he appeared as one of Elizabeth's classmates in her iconic film National Velvet the year this photo was taken. Though he was very close to his sister and made a few cameo appearances in films and television over the years (most notably in Elizabeth's 1968 movie Boom! as a journalist), he followed in their father's footsteps instead and became a high-end art dealer. Philanthropic and empathetic like Elizabeth (who supported various worthy causes, most notably through her tireless work on behalf of those with HIV/AIDS), Howard later opened a camp in 1969 on his seven acre property in Kauai, Hawaii (known as both "Taylor Camp" and "Camp Howard") where he offered refuge to students he personally bailed out of jail on the mainland who'd suffered police brutality during the campus riots and civil unrest of the era, eventually providing safe harbor for 120 young adults. Though branded a "hippie camp" and facing opposition and legal challenges from Kauai's then-mayor, Eduardo Malapit, it remained open until 1977 after which the structures were burned down and the land was taken over as a state park. "I worshiped Howard as a child, and still do," Elizabeth once stated. "He's totally un-superficial, totally un-materialistic, the most real person I've ever known. In our kind of world that's like a breath of fresh air. I would love to talk a lot about his life, but I have to be very careful not to inflict my fame on him because he has a wonderful sense of his own privacy." Howard outlived Elizabeth by nine years, passing away on August 31st, 2020 at the age of ninety-one in El Prado, New Mexico.

Cary Grant — Bringing up Baby, 1938

"The most beautiful women in the world always have a cat by their side." -Coco Chanel 

Marlene Dietrich, c.1939

Carole Lombard and her malamute dog, Basco, in Culver City, CA 1929. Photo by William E. Thomas, Pathé.