One of cinema’s most famous dogs is “Toto” from MGM’s Wizard of Oz. The famous dog was played by Terry, who was actually female. Terry was already a famous dog by the time she was cast in Wizard of Oz, having appeared in the Shirley Temple film Bright Eyes.
Despite the assertions of MGM’s publicity machine, Terry was not discovered in a pound; her owner- George Spitz- had specially trained and raised Terry to Star in films. Oddly enough, Terry actually made more money than most Americans at the time and was definitely higher paid than the dwarf actors playing the munchkins in the film.
Terry almost died during the filming of The Wizard of Oz, getting stepped on by one of the actors portraying a flying monkey. The dog recuperated at Judy Garland’s house and the actress had grown quite fond of it, begging George Spitz to sell it to her. He refused, continuing to make the dog available to perform in films.
Eventually, Terry’s name was changed to Toto to take advantage of the dog’s most famous film role. Terry would die in 1945, eventually getting buried in the Hollywood Forever cemetery.
