Give me a paw, friend! Tragic fates of animals that were filmed in Hollywood films

Films with animals have always been loved by the audience. Touching stories about the relationship between people and pets melted hearts, and fluffy stars were remembered for a long time. They appeared in many Hollywood films, and they were admired on a par with world celebrities. But, despite the fame and popularity, the fate of some tailed actors was not at all rosy. Read the stories of animals that shone on the screen, but suffered in real life.

Animals from famous Hollywood films touched the audience, but their fate was not always happy. When filming stopped, and the box office brought millions of profits, the tailed stars often found themselves in a deplorable situation.

One such example was the story of Katie. This female dolphin was filmed in the popular TV series "Flipper" in the 60s. Her coach, Rick O'Barry, told how Katie committed suicide in 1968 by stopping breathing until death occurred.

A former navy diver trained animals for the film and opened a dolphin sanctuary. He claimed that Katie committed suicide because she was exhausted and unhappy.

Unfortunately, Katie the dolphin is not the only movie star animal to suffer after appearing on the big screen.

Hercules, a grizzly bear from Scotland, was incredibly popular in the 80s. But before his screen debut in 1976, he was on the verge of death. They wanted to put him down because there wasn't enough space in the park in Kingussie where he lived. Andy and Maggie Robin bought the bear and took him on a tour where he demonstrated his strength in wrestling. During the training, the trainers saw that Hercules was capable of more and began to promote him for filming in films.

Soon the bear began acting in beer commercials and appeared on the cover of Time magazine. He even won the title of "Personality of the Year" from the Scottish Tourism Board and received congratulatory telegrams from Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. But the biggest achievement of Hercules was shooting in the movie "Octopussy" (1983) with Roger Moore in the role of James Bond. At the peak of popularity, the beast suddenly disappeared during the filming of another advertisement. He was found on the Scottish island of Benbecula. In the wild, the bear lost 127 kg. He was tranquilized and sent back to the Robins.

Unfortunately, Hercules' acting career ended after an unfortunate fall during the filming of a documentary in 1997. The bear injured the intervertebral disc, and veterinarians offered to euthanize the unfortunate beast. His owners refused and made every effort so that the bear could walk again, but this never happened. The grizzly lived for another 4 years and died at the age of 25.

The Kern Terrier Terry has played 22 roles, including 10 in Hollywood films over the course of 11 years. The most famous was the role of Toto the dog in The Wizard of Oz (1939), where she received $ 125 a week for filming, which today equals $ 2,500 (about 182,000 rubles).

But during filming with Judy Garland, who played Dorothy, the poor dog suffered a painful injury. One of the witches of the West accidentally stepped on a shaggy actress, breaking her paw. Because of this, Terri was unable to continue acting in the film. It is said that Judy Garland took care of the dog for two weeks until she recovered. In addition, Judy tried to find her a friend, but she did not accept anyone.

The shaggy actress died in 1945, when she was 11 years old. The tombstone with her name in Los Angeles was destroyed in 1958 during construction. It was later replaced by a permanent memorial.

The 2012 adventure drama mainly used animals created using computer graphics. However, in some episodes, a real tiger named King was still filmed. Unfortunately, things don't always go according to plan on set. So one day a Bengal predator almost drowned in a tank of water.

The tiger could not swim to the opposite side and began desperately floundering in the water. Fortunately, he was saved. After this incident, the film crew carefully monitored safety while working on the film.

Giraffe Tweet literally stood head and shoulders above its competitors, getting roles in popular films. He has starred in many commercials. He also appeared on the big screen in the comedy Ace Ventura: The Search for Pets (1994) starring Jim Carrey.

In 2009, during the filming of the movie "My Boyfriend from the Zoo", a giraffe fell and died under unclear circumstances. They say that he was kept in too small an enclosure. In addition, it is suspected that the Tweet was poisoned by eating a piece of tarpaulin due to the negligence of the caretakers. Nevertheless, the mystery of the animal's death still remains unsolved.

Before being "lit up" in the famous movie next to Reese Witherspoon, the dog Gidget managed to become a star of advertising. They say that her appearance in the comedy "Legally Blonde 2" caused a wave of fashion for chihuahuas: more and more people bought dogs of this breed. The little star rode in limousines and even participated in the opening ceremony of the New York Stock Exchange.

Unfortunately, in 2009, Gidget had to be euthanized at the age of 15 after she had a stroke.

The Crystal Monkey worked on the same set with such Hollywood stars as Ben Stiller, Bradley Cooper, Scarlett Johansson and Robin Williams. She has appeared in 29 films, including "Night at the Museum", "Bachelor Party in Vegas 2" and "The Big Bang Theory".

Now Crystal has already turned 17 years old. The five films in which she starred received more than $ 2.5 billion (about 183 billion rubles) in box office receipts. Recently, the monkey appeared in the TV series "I Know it's True," which won four awards, including an Emmy. We hope that unlike the other heroes of the collection, the monkey will live a happy life without tragedies and suffering.

In 1993, the audience was fascinated by a touching story about a boy who was taught friendship, love and responsibility by a killer whale. Keiko, which means "lucky guy" in Japanese, played the iconic whale after the filmmakers noticed him in a seedy water park in Mexico.

Before the release of the film "Free Willy", its creators appealed to the public with a request to achieve the release of Keiko. After numerous letters, phone calls and donations, the animal was taken to the Oregon Aquarium, and then, in 2000, transported to Iceland. However, due to the fact that the whale spent a lot of time in the company of people, away from his relatives, he was unable to adapt and feed himself.

Three years after his release, Keiko died of pneumonia. Scientists concluded that he was not ready to return to the wild.

A long-haired collie named Paul played the audience's favorite Lassie for 11 years. At the same time, his candidacy was initially rejected because of his appearance. The producers thought that the dog looked too ordinary and would not look good on the screen. But Paul was still destined to get into the frame. The first dog, who was taken on the role of Lassie, refused to swim.

Since then, Collie has starred in all episodes of the popular series. And after its closure, he appeared in 18-minute performances in shopping malls and at dog shows. He even took part in animal auditions for new films as a member of the jury.

Paul died in 1958 at the age of 18 due to natural causes. A year before his death, he became blind, deaf and suffered from inflammation of the joints. His owner and trainer, Rudd Weatherwax, fell into a deep depression after losing his pet and never watched Lassie movies again.

Hedwig's role in the cult cycle was played by seven owls and many more stunt owls. The main performer of the role was an owl named Gizmo. All the birds were male, despite the fact that Hedwig is a female in the book. But the creators chose the males. And all because they are smaller in size, and it's easier for child actors to hold them.

In 2017, rumors began to spread that the birds were being mistreated and kept in improper conditions. Indignation was growing around the owl named Crash. The animal rights organization PETA claimed that the bird is kept locked up in a dirty cage, which is not cleaned for six weeks, and does not provide enough space for a comfortable life. Nevertheless, the filmmakers rejected all the accusations.

Meanwhile, the American showed the whole essence of dog life in her latest photo project. Collages tell stories that convey the individuality of dogs with the help of those little things that make up their life and happiness.