Meet the real Toto

J. Mark Powell
jmp.press@gmail.com
Posted 7/10/19

Fifty years ago this summer, one incredible thing after another was happening. Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon. Some 100,000 people attended a music festival at Woodstock. Charles …

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Meet the real Toto

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Fifty years ago this summer, one incredible thing after another was happening. Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon. Some 100,000 people attended a music festival at Woodstock. Charles Manson and his deranged followers shocked the country with the Sharon Tate murders. And while all that was going on, I got my first dog. That may not have been as epic as the other events, but it was monumental to an 8-year-old boy. And I’ve been a dog lover ever since.
Which is why I was intrigued when I recently learned the story of Hollywood’s most famous dog. No, not Lassie or Rin Tin Tin or Old Yeller. I’m talking Toto from the beloved classic The Wizard of Oz.
“Toto” was actually a girl named Terry. A Cairn Terrier, she was born around 1933. Her first owners were a childless married couple. Terry had the usual puppy wetting problem, so she was sent to Carl Spitz for training on his 10-acre ranch in Studio City. The German immigrant really knew how to get the most out of canines and Terry was a fast learner. But when the puppy potty training was over, the owners had vanished with no forwarding address. Carl’s wife suggested they keep her.
Terry became the family pet. Clark Gable came by the ranch for some publicity photos one day, spotted the dog and said the proverbial, “She ought to be in pictures.” His endorsement opened important doors at MGM. In no time, Terry was appearing on the silver screen alongside the most famous names of the day: Gable, Shirley Temple, Jack Benny, Spencer Tracy and many others.
In late 1938, Spitz heard MGM was planning a movie based on L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz books. He knew Toto was a leading character and figured because she bore a strong resemblance to the book’s illustrations of the dog, Terry would be a natural. Then he did something clever.
Half the dog owners in Tinsel Town were trying to get their pets cast for the role. Spitz tried a different approach. He spent time training Terry to do all the stunts Toto does in the book: chase a witch, fetch apples thrown from a tree, and so on. Studio chiefs were impressed and on November 1 Terry got the part without taking a screen test. There was just one condition.
Since they would be in so many scenes, she had to get along well with Judy Garland. The pair spent two weeks living together. Garland instantly fell in love with her canine co-star. She liked her so much, in fact, Garland offered to buy Terry. Spitz politely refused.
But there was one small problem. Garland said the dog’s breath was horrible! But somehow, she found a way to work around it, since the two appear close together throughout the movie.
Terry received the relatively princely salary of $125—more than the Munchkins were paid! But she was worth every penny. The result was cinematic gold, and we’re still enjoying it today.
The dog had reached official star status. She made personal appearances. Autograph collectors paid big money for her paw prints. She was so popular, Spitz officially changed her name to Toto. 
Terry’s final film was in 1943. She died on September 1, 1945 at age 11. Spitz loved the dog so much, he buried Terry on his ranch. Unfortunately, her grave was paved over when the Ventura Freeway was built in 1958.
But Terry does have a marker in Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where some of her fellow Oz cast members are buried.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz’s release. You can’t help wondering if Terry’s original owners ever realized they passed up a gold mine when they left their puppy with a very talented trainer.      
Have comments, questions or suggestions you’d like to share with Mark? Message him at jmp.press@gmail.com .

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