Pete the Pup
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| Other name(s) | Petey, Pal the Wonder Dog, Lucenay's Peter |
|---|---|
| Species | Dog |
| Breed | American Pit Bull Terrier |
| Sex | Male |
| Born | 1924 (first) September 9, 1929 (second) |
| Died | June 1930 (first) January 28, 1946 (second) |
| Nation from | United States |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1927-1938 |
Pete the Pup (original, 1924 – June 1930; second Pete, September 9, 1929 – January 28, 1946) is a dog character in Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies series (later known as The Little Rascals) during the 1930s, otherwise known as "Pete, the dog with the ring around his eye", or simply "Petey". The original Pete dog actor was an UKC registered American Pit Bull Terrier sired by the famous dog "Tudor's Black Jack" and called "Pal, the Wonder Dog",[1][2][3][4] and it is sometimes claimed to had a natural ring around his right eye and that dye was used to enhance the circle. The second Pete was Pal' son, an UKC/AKC double registered American Pit Bull Terrier/American Staffordshire Terrier named Lucenay’s Peter.[5] He was well known for having a circled eye which was added by Hollywood make-up artist Max Factor[6] and credited as an oddity in Ripley's Believe It or Not.
In the 1982 cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera, he was voiced by Peter Cullen.
In the 1994 feature film remake of The Little Rascals, Pete is portraid by an American Bulldog,[7] and in the 2014 movie The Little Rascals Save the Day, Pete is portraid by a rescued mutt dog actor.
A brief parody of Pete appeared in the 1935 Bob Hope short Watch the Birdie, which was produced by Warner Bros.
In his last years Tommy "Butch" Bond made public appearances with a similar Pit Bull Terrier he claimed was a descendant of the original Pete the Pup.
Dog actors which portrayed Pete the Pup
[edit]Pal The Wonder Dog
[edit]
The first dog actor to play Pete the Pup was Pal The Wonder Dog (sired by Tudor's Black Jack x Keller Peggy O'Neill and bred by Earl Tudor) who first started out as "Tige" in the Buster Brown series in the 1920s. It was during this time that he acquired the circled eye mark, and when he was recruited to appear in the Our Gang comedies later that year, Hal Roach simply left it on, creating one of the most recognized dogs in film history.
When he was about six months old, Pal the Wonder Dog made an appearance in the Harold Lloyd film The Freshman, in 1925.[8]
Infortunately Pal was poisoned and died in 1930.[9]
Luncenay's Peter
[edit]After Pal's death its trainer and owner Lt. Harry Lucenay used one male dog of Pal's offspring to play Pete in the series. Pal's son named Lucenay's Peter (sired by Pal the Wonder Dog x Keller Peggy O'Neill) was bred by the breeder A. A. Keller and born in 1930. This second Pete the Pup looked very similar to the first but was a mirror image; the circle around Pal right eye was around the left eye of its son Peter. Lucenay's Peter first appeared as a puppy on Pups Is Pups and was nearly full-grown on his second appearance School's Out. The second Pete's last Our Gang appearance was The Pooch in 1932. The plot had a dog catcher who attempts to catch Pete and euthanise him, but is unsuccessful. After Lucenay was fired from the Our Gang series in 1932, he retired Peter to Atlantic City, where he was photographed with children at the Steel Pier.
After Harry Lucenays beeing fired, Roach used a number of unrelated dogs to portray Pete in Our Gang until 1938 beginning with Hook and Ladder.[9] Lucenay's Peter continued on and died of old age on January 28, 1946, in Los Angeles, California, at age 16 years/4 months, two years after the Our Gang series ended. Pete is buried at Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park at Calabasas, Los Angeles County, California, United States.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Favorite well known dog, past or present - Page 1". www.pedigreedatabase.com.
- ^ "Pedigree Database: PAL THE WONDER DOG". pedigree.gamedogs.cz.
- ^ "THE AMERICAN PIT BULL TERRIER BEGINNINGS IN THE CINEMA". www.fiapbt.net.
- ^ Pal, the Wonder Dog, and his Offspring Pete
- ^ "Breed Info". Staffordshire Terrier Club of America. Archived from the original on 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
- ^ Martin, Rick (2007). Circus Tricks for Your Dog: 25 Crowd-Pleasers That Will Make Your Dog a Star. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-57990-816-4.
- ^ "American Bulldog Movies". Reel Dogs. 2015-04-20. Archived from the original on 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
- ^ Commentary by Leonard Maltin, Richard Correll, and Richard W. Bann, from The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Giftset, Volume 2 – disc one
- ^ a b Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang, pp. 281–283. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-517-58325-9
External links
[edit]- Pal the Dog at IMDb
- Pete the Pup at IMDb
- Training film with Pete and Harry Lucenay (ca 1932)
- Pal The Wonder Dog And Pete
- Pal the wonder dog – online pedigree
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