Eddie: Moose, the Jack Russell Terrier who starred in Frasier for a full decade, earned $10,000 each episode.
Rin Tin Tin: Arguably the most famous canine actor of all time, Rin Tin Tin starred in 26 Warner Bros. movies and, at the peak of his career, received 10,000 fan letters a week.
Toto: The four-legged star of The Wizard of Oz was played by a female Cairn Terrier named Terry.
Lassie: The heroic Collie was originally played by a dog actor named Hal. Future Lassies were played by nine generations of Hal’s descendants who inherited his trademark looks. (Literally, his appearance–a Collie with four white paws, large white collar, and a white blaze–are trademarked.)
Asta: This wire-haired Fox Terrier starred in several movies, but he was best known for his role in The Thin Man series, in which he helped his hard-drinking, high-living humans solve crimes. In the movies he was a devoted, if mischievous, pet; in real life, he bit actress Myrna Loy.
Petey: The Pit Bull Terrier with the eye ring played the sidekick to the kids of The Little Rascals (originally known as Our Gang) and Buster Brown. Petey was played by several dogs, the first being a dog named Pal, then one of Pal’s offspring, then unrelated look-alikes.
Old Yeller: The big yellow dog from the famous Disney tear-jerker was played by a mutt named Spike. Spike was rescued from a shelter by a Hollywood dog trainer, who said the playful, friendly dog needed extensive training to learn how to act vicious in the film.
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