Red Carpet Rovers: Toto in The Wizard of Oz

The #RedCarpetCat Twitter Party (live from Hollywood!) is just a few days away, and in celebration we will be posting fun facts about famous Fidos and felines from movies past and present on DogTipper and on our sister site, CatTipper. Today we take a fond look back at Terry, who will be forever remembered by film fans as Toto in The Wizard of Oz. Be sure to RSVP and join in all the fun on February 22nd!

• Seven decades after she crossed Rainbow Bridge, the little dog who traveled over the rainbow continues to be a prominent part of our culture. In tribute to her portrayal of Toto, state Representative Ed Trimmer recently introduced House Bill No. 251 to make the Cairn Terrier the state dog of Kansas. If passed, Kansas would become the 12th state to have an official state dog– the others being Alaska, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
• Before the world fell in love with her portrayal of Toto, Terry won the heart of her co-star, Judy Garland. The pair bonded during the Cairn Terrier’s two-week stay in the Garland household, reportedly prompting the movie legend to ask trainer Carl Spitz if she could adopt Terry.  (Terry remained in Carl Spitz’s care.)
• The Spot’s skills earned her a salary of $125 a week (an impressive amount in the 1930′s) during the production of The Wizard of Oz.
• A pro among pooches, over the course of her career Terry shared the screen with such movie giants as Spencer Tracy (in the drama Fury), Shirley Temple (in the family-friendly flick Bright Eyes) and Joan Crawford (a cameo role in the classic comedy The Women).
• Terry’s memory lives on in the pages of I, Toto: The Autobiography of Terry, the Dog who was Toto, a chronicle of the canine’s life which was discovered in a leather-bound scrapbook at the celebrity Spot’s original burial site.
• Passing away at age 11, Terry was laid to rest in the back yard of her trainer, Carl Spitz. While the development of the Ventura highway destroyed the pup’s plot, fans of the charismatic Cairn Terrier can pay their respects to the Rover who played such an important role in the collective imagination of generations of movie-goers at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where a full-size bronze sculpture of the showbiz Spot stands on a granite base.

Photo Credit: Amazon

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