Lassie

Lassie

Lassie

Timmy Martin

Ruth Martin

Paul Martin

Lassie

The original Lassie TV show starred the Miller family with Tommy Rettig as Jeff, Jan Clayton as his Mother, Ellen, and George Cleveland as Gramps. The first two seasons of Lassie with the above cast garnered an Emmy award each of those years for best prime time children's show. Lassie never won an Emmy after that. Tommy Rettig was getting too old for the part, so he voluntarily left and was replaced by Timmy and his adoptive parents, the Martins. The critical quality of the show (writing, acting, etc.) began to decline in the third season and suffered considerably when Timmy, the Martins and new producers took over. With the notable exception of a couple of acclaimed Christmas shows the popularity of the dog Lassie and her acting abilities carried the show for many years. She was played by a boy dog called Pal Jr. who was the son of Pal and looked almost identical to the original Pal from the MGM movies and TV pilot show. Lassie's owner and trainer, Rudd Weatherax, and his two dogs, Pal and Pal Jr., were phenomenal. Their acting abilities as a team were what made the Lassie brand what it was and still is today.

On 11 August 2009 the US Postal Service issued a pane of twenty 44¢ commemorative postage stamps honoring early USA television programs. A booklet with 20 picture postal cards was also issued. On the stamp honoring "Lassie" is a picture of its canine star, Lassie. Other shows honored in the Early TV Memories issue were The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet (1952), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), The Dinah Shore Show (1951), Dragnet (1951), "The Ed Sullivan Show" (originally titled The Ed Sullivan Show (1948)), The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950), Hopalong Cassidy (1952), The Honeymooners (1955), "The Howdy Doody Show" (original title: The Howdy Doody Show (1947)), I Love Lucy (1951), Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947), The Lone Ranger (1949), Perry Mason (1957), The Phil Silvers Show (1955), The Red Skelton Hour (1951), "Texaco Star Theater" (titled Texaco Star Theatre (1948), 1954-1956), The Tonight Show (which began as Tonight! (1953)), Twilight Zone (1959), and You Bet Your Life (1950).

Lassie was both owned and trained by Rudd Weatherwax and reportedly lived to be 19 years old.