# What's your favorite performance by an animal in a motion picture or television show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862 "2004-02-06T16:48:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/1 "2004-02-06T16:48:32Z")
Mine would either be Kid Shelleen’s [horse](http://www.posterplanet.net/pictures/leemarvinphoto.htm) in [Cat Ballou](http://imdb.com/title/tt0059017/) or Jane Curtin’s hyper-humpy dog on _Third Rock from the Sun_. (I try not to watch any movie or TV show with a monkey because 1- they usually suck and 2- there’s a long and horrible history of chimps/orangutans/etc. being horribly abused by their handlers (e.g. Buddha, who played Clyde in the Clint Eastwood movies, was literally beaten to death while Larry Hovis, Richard Dawson, John Banner and Werner Klemperer all walked off the set of an episode of _Hogan’s Heroes_ because the trainer of a monkey in the episode was beating him with chains when he wouldn’t obey commands.) ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/2 "2004-02-06T17:34:12Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > (Buddha, who played Clyde in the Clint Eastwood movies, was literally beaten to death while Larry Hovis, Richard Dawson, John Banner and Werner Klemperer all walked off the set of an episode of _Hogan’s Heroes_ because the trainer of a monkey in the episode was beating him with chains when he wouldn’t obey commands.) :eek: :eek: Holy CRAP! Cite?! ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/3 "2004-02-06T19:25:04Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > (Buddha, who played Clyde in the Clint Eastwood movies, was literally beaten to death while Larry Hovis, Richard Dawson, John Banner and Werner Klemperer all walked off the set of an episode of _Hogan’s Heroes_ because the trainer of a monkey in the episode was beating him with chains when he wouldn’t obey commands.) Okay, this disturbed me for some reason, so I decided to do some internet digging. Hogan’s Heroes ran from 1965 - 1971. “Every Which Way But Loose,” the first movie to feature Clyde the orangutan, was released in 1978, according to [IMDB.com](http://IMDB.com). So, either Clyde somehow resurrected himself to star in the film, or Hogan’s Heroes did a little extracurricular monkey-beating more than 7 years after its initial run. Either way, this claim smacks of ripe monkey-poo. After some more searching, I ran across this quote from the Orange County People for Animals page: > [@](#): > > Animals used in television and film are often brutally beaten to force them to perform. The orangutan used in Clint Eastwood’s film, Any Which Way But Loose, was beaten to death by a club used by his “trainer.” The infamous Las Vegas “entertainer” Bobby Berosini was videotaped beating the primates he used in his nightclub act. So I’m not sure what to think. Think I’ll start a separate thread on this and see if others can back up this bizarre urban legend. In the meantime, I see no hard evidence to support this claim. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/4 "2004-02-06T20:11:37Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > Hogan’s Heroes ran from 1965 - 1971. “Every Which Way But Loose,” the first movie to feature Clyde the orangutan, was released in 1978, according to [IMDB.com](http://IMDB.com). So, either Clyde somehow resurrected himself to star in the film, or Hogan’s Heroes did a little extracurricular monkey-beating more than 7 years after its initial run. Either way, this claim smacks of ripe monkey-poo. I think you’re misreading the comment. A **CHIMP** who was used on the set of _Hogan’s Heroes_ was beaten with chains by its owner, prompting several actors to walk off the set in protest. I read this in a book on 60s television, though it is also mentioned on the website of (the late) [Larry Hovis](http://larryhovis.com) under “Trivia”. (Of course if you want really disturbing trivia about Hogan’s Heroes that doesn’t involve concentration camps or Bob Crane’s sex life, check out the Hogan’s Heroes cast in a [Jello commercial](http://www.tvparty.com/vaultcomsp.html) with Carol Channing towards the bottom of this page.) Buddha was a completely separate primate and an orangutan, not a chimp. He appeared as Clyde in the Clint Eastwood movie _Every Which Way but Loose_ as well as others and was routinely beaten by his owners to comply. Orangutans are incredibly intelligent animals, have several times the strength of a well muscled human, and don’t generally like to perform tricks in large groups of people and so physical abuse was used to make them cute. (That big funny grin that Clyde did and the Berosini orangutans did, for example, is not a 😉 to apes but a look of either agression or terror.) I saw an expose of the Buddha case on a primetime news show some while ago, but there are [web](http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:vEJv9WAPSA0J:www.chimpcollaboratory.org/launch/ChimpCollabReport.pdf+buddha+orangutan+doughnuts&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)[accounts](http://www.movieclub.com/reviews/archives/96dunston/dunston.html). The Berosini incident was in the courts for years with Bersoini at one point being awarded $4 million in damages in his defamation case against PETA and with an appellate course overturning the decision and awarding PETA $340,000 in legal fees. Berosini claimed that he was attempting to protect a co-worker in the casino from an orangutan attack. (Mm-hmmm; I have no love for PETA, but apes are not meant to be made to perform any more than tigers.) ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/5 "2004-02-06T21:19:19Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I think you’re misreading the comment. A **CHIMP** who was used on the set of _Hogan’s Heroes_ was beaten with chains by its owner, prompting several actors to walk off the set in protest. I read this in a book on 60s television, though it is also mentioned on the website of (the late) [Larry Hovis](http://larryhovis.com) under “Trivia”… > > Buddha was a completely separate primate and an orangutan, not a chimp. He appeared as Clyde in the Clint Eastwood movie _Every Which Way but Loose_ as well as others and was routinely beaten by his owners to comply. Your quote: > [@Sampiro](#): > > Buddha, who played Clyde in the Clint Eastwood movies, was literally beaten to death while Larry Hovis, Richard Dawson, John Banner and Werner Klemperer all walked off the set of an episode of Hogan’s Heroes because the trainer of a monkey in the episode was beating him with chains when he wouldn’t obey commands.) I see now how much difference an omitted comma or period can make. Your quote should have read: > [@](#): > > Buddha, who played Clyde in the Clint Eastwood movies, was literally beaten to death. > > Larry Hovis, Richard Dawson, John Banner and Werner Klemperer all walked off the set of an episode of Hogan’s Heroes because the trainer of a monkey in the episode was beating him with chains when he wouldn’t obey commands. Much less confusing now. ---
**Author:** ![Selkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/6 "2004-02-06T21:34:16Z")
On a much happier note, and back to the original topic, I hereby nominate the performance of [Bart the bear](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1075976/) in “The Edge”. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/7 "2004-02-06T22:35:22Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Buddha was a completely separate primate and an orangutan, not a chimp. He appeared as Clyde in the Clint Eastwood movie _Every Which Way but Loose_ as well as others and was routinely beaten by his owners to comply. Orangutans are incredibly intelligent animals, have several times the strength of a well muscled human, and don’t generally like to perform tricks in large groups of people and so physical abuse was used to make them cute. (That big funny grin that Clyde did and the Berosini orangutans did, for example, is not a 😉 to apes but a look of either agression or terror.) I saw an expose of the Buddha case on a primetime news show some while ago, but there are > [web](http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:vEJv9WAPSA0J:www.chimpcollaboratory.org/launch/ChimpCollabReport.pdf+buddha+orangutan+doughnuts&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)[accounts](http://www.movieclub.com/reviews/archives/96dunston/dunston.html). [Something’s not adding up](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=4522278#post4522278). No orangutan named Buddha was in “Any Which Way But Loose”. According to the movie’s [IMDB.com](http://IMDB.com) entry, that orangutan was named Manis. Unfotunately, the orangutan used in “Any Which Way You Can” is not credited on [IMDB.com](http://IMDB.com). That may have been Buddha, but I’m having a hard time confirming it. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/8 "2004-02-06T23:51:11Z")
Casting a vote for the fox terrier who played “Asta” in _The Thin Man_ movies, although they may have used more than one Asta due to the length of the series. That was one smart and cute little terrier. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/9 "2004-02-07T00:24:47Z")
Judges, can I take back my vote? Of course, my very favorite animal scene is when Jack Lemmon, as Professor Fate in _The Great Race_, jumps onto a bed filled with little pugs, and roars at them all to “Get off of the bed!” Most jump down in dismay, but one or two sidle and wiggle up to him to lick his ear and snort as though to forgive him for being mean. It’s the only time I ever saw anyone upstage Jack Lemmon! ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/10 "2004-02-07T01:34:14Z")
The horse in [The Villain](http://imdb.com/title/tt0080097/) The bears in [The Bear](http://imdb.com/title/tt0095800/) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/11 "2004-02-07T01:42:52Z")
Spuds MacKenzie. Man, could that dog ever act! ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/12 "2004-02-07T02:18:20Z")
I always thought that the dog who played Verdell in _As Good as It Gets_, should have won some sort of an acting award. He actually looked like he was acting with Jack Nicholson. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/13 "2004-02-07T02:18:40Z")
The llama in Twin Peaks (Episode 4?). Coop & Truman are at the vet’s and someone walks by with a llama. The llama stops for a second, looks Cooper in the eye, snorts, then continues on its way. Not exactly acting since it’s explained in the commentary that the llama was smelling the gum that Kyle MacLachlan was chewing, but I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/14 "2004-02-07T05:30:46Z")
Several Horse _The Black Stallion_ The budgie in _Birdy_ Lions in _Born Free_ Baby Elephant \* Hatari\* Bart the Bear and the baby bear in _The Bear_. Chimps and other primates in _Project X_ Special Cast Award to Ba_be: The Gallant Pig_. (yes many scenes are actually animatronics) Dog Well there are too so many to choose. Of course you have Lassie and Rin Tin Tin but _My Dog Skip, Ol Yeller, Sounder_, and the dogs from _Where the Red Fern Grows,_ all deserve mentions. Two Socks the wolf from \*Dances with Wolves \* But of course the greatest performance by an animal would have to be George and Gracie from _Star Trek IV The Voyage Home_. Come on, they saved the EARTH! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/15 "2004-02-07T05:32:07Z")
But seriously, The greatest performance by an animal in a film goes to **ME** in Shena: Queen of the Jungle. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/16 "2004-02-07T07:01:32Z")
**Comet** , the horse from _The Adventures of Brisco County Jr._, who doesn’t think he’s a horse. ---
**Author:** ![Pepsi\_Classic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Pepsi\_Classic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pepsi_Classic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/17 "2004-02-07T07:14:24Z")
Gus. > **[Gus (1976) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074599/)** > > Gus: Directed by Vincent McEveety. With Ed Asner, Don Knotts, Gary Grimes, Tim Conway. The inept 'California Atoms,' floundering in the cellar of the National Football League, welcome the team's newest member - a mule capable of place kicking a... ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/18 "2004-02-07T07:16:28Z")
I’ll research and also write to snopes about Buddha. I certainly hope that it turns out I’m repeating an urban legend (how often does one read that hope?), though I’ve no doubt that primates in show business (including the Berosini orangutans) are abused: they’re not domesticated animals and they’re not only dangerous as all hell but incredibly clever- I can’t seem them learning tricks very easily. I am positive I saw the story on a legitimate primetime network news show, but then the same can be said of exploding pick-up trucks. Another animal to add to the list of favorites from the movies: Shirley MacLaine’s St. Bernard in STEEL MAGNOLIAS. (Trivia also suitable for the “bizarre celebrity relatives” column: IRL that dog was the mother of Dreyfuss, Richard Mulligan’s dog on _Empty Nest_; Dad was an Irish Setter.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/19 "2004-02-07T07:19:36Z")
And then of course there’s the Pushme-Pullyu from Dr. Doolittle. That thing was incredible. (A girl in my first grade class who was from a very rich family had an almost “life” sized stuffed animal of the P-P [or at least so it seemed to a 1st grader].) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862/20 "2004-02-07T07:36:32Z")
I’d like to give a shout out to the elephant who played Shep in _George Of The Jungle_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-performance-by-an-animal-in-a-motion-picture-or-television-show/227862.md?page=2)