Born on a battlefield in World War I, Rin Tin Tin went on to be an American movie star & icon. 2 months before the war would end, an American soldier- Corporal Lee Duncan discovered a bombed out German war dog station while on a scouting mission. Inside he found a shell shocked mother German Shepherd & her 5 puppies.
Not wanting to leave them helpless, Duncan brought them back to his base where he took care of them. When he returned home to California, Duncan brought Rin Tin Tin with him. Rin Tin Tin was named after small dolls French soldiers carried for good luck.
Duncan settled into his home in L.A. & he became interested in the new movie industry. Knowing his dog was special, he made the rounds of the studios, but they showed little interest in a canine movie star.
Finally he got his big break when he came upon a crew shooting a scene with a wolf. Rin Tin Tin was able to perform a feat in 1 take that had frustrated the crew trying to work the scene with a real wolf.
In 1922, Rin Tin Tin ( his friends called him "Rinty") , made his debut in a low budget western called The Man from Hell's River. He did all his own on screen stunts.
Rinty’s charisma, good looks, fearless ability & acting talent attracted the attention of the struggling Warner Brothers studio. Together they made 24 films that helped establish the new studio & made Rin Tin Tin a household name, & a magazine cover boy.
At the height of his celebrity, Rinty earned a salary of $1000 a week, had his own production unit, a chauffeur driven limousine, a personal chef & a diamond studded collar. Not much is known about his personal life, but Rinty was spotted at several underground gay spots around Hollywood. Although he was quite a stud, siring 48 pups, including a favorite named Junior, Rin Tin Tin was known to hump male stunt dogs & was very probably bisexual.
In 1930 in an ungrateful gesture, Warner Brothers released Rinty. He was forced to work low budget serials. He admitted to a Milk- Bone addiction & went into rehab. After 40 movies, he retired in 1931.
Following Rin Tin Tin's death in 1932 in L.A. (in the arms of actress Jean Harlow, according to Hollywood legend), Duncan arranged to have the dog returned to his country of birth for burial in the Cimetière des Chiens, the famous pet cemetery in the Parisian suburb of Asnières-sur-Seine.
His son, Junior went on to appear in movies following the death of his father. Rin Tin Tin is one of 3 dogs to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame along with Strongheart & Lassie.
As a child, I was devoted to The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, an ABC television series that ran from 1954 to1959. It featured Rin Tin Tin IV as the star.
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