- Vitagraph Dog
Jean, the Vitagraph Dog was a dog actor that performed title roles in early
silent films . She was a precursor to other famous dog actors likeLassie andRin Tin Tin .Biography and career
Around 1907, Maine resident and aspiring writer
Laurence Trimble moved toNew York City with his dog, Jean. An article he sold to a localmagazine paved the way for the two of them to visitVitagraph Studios to do a story on film making. Trimble and his pet just happened to be on the set at a time when the company needed a dog to play oppositeFlorence Turner ("the Vitagraph Girl"). As a result, dog and master were asked to stay and both became members of the Vitagraph stock company.Jean became quite popular and was soon known as "the Vitagraph Dog", starring in her own films along with "the Vitagraph Girl" all directed by Larry Trimble. One- and two-reelers with titles such as, "Jean and the Calico Doll", "Jean and the Waif", and "Jean Goes Fishing" were made by Trimble as their troop filmed along the coastline in his native
Maine .By 1910, Trimble became Florence Turner's exclusive director and continued to make films with his lucky pet, Jean, until 1913, when Trimble, Turner, and Jean left Vitagraph and started up Turner Films, Ltd. in England.
World War I interrupted most of their work and, in 1916, Trimble returned to the states. That same year, Jean died.Trimble worked with another dog,
Strongheart , in the pictures, but eventually retired at age 40 and became a trainer ofguide dogs for the blind.External links
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1255970/ IMDb entry for Jean, the Vitagraph dog]
* [http://www.imaginenews.com/Archive/2000/MAR_2000/Text/FEAT06.htm| Article on Jean and Larry Trimble]
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