As you may know, Uggie, perhaps the most famous film pooch since Rin Tin Tin, has retired from major roles in film at the ripe old age of ten. What you probably do not know is that Uggie has written a book.
Kind of.
Uggie — My Story is a new book about Uggie’s history in the film industry, claiming to be “as barked to” author Wendy Holden and Uggie’s trainer, Omar von Muller. In the book von Muller, who has trained dogs for decades, recalls that he received a call about Uggie in 2002 when the pup was too wild for his family. von Muller soon realized that Uggie was an ideal dog for films because he was not afraid of bright set lights or crowded sets, and he appeared in dozens of commercials and the 2006 film Mr. Fix It.
However, 2010 was Uggie’s breakthrough year as he appeared in Water for Elephants (with Reese Witherspoon, with the book revealing Uggie’s crush on the leading lady) and, of course, The Artist. von Muller admits that he wasn’t initially impressed with The Artist since it didn’t feature any major stars and was, after all, a black and white silent movie being made in the twenty-first century. But the movie was a big hit with audiences, and Uggie was soon making appearances on The Ellen DeGerneres Show and attended both the Golden Globes and the Oscars while The Artist received many awards. Uggie even garnered some of his own awards, such as the Palm Dog Award from the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
But at the pinnacle of Uggie’s success, the book reveals that he is suffering from canine restless leg syndrome, which will prevent him from appearing in any large roles. But he’s not completely out of the picture — for instance, Uggie made a hilarious cameo in this year’s The Campaign and serves as a “spokesdog” for the Nintendo game series Nintendogs.
Still, Uggie is enjoying living with von Muller and the various other dogs around the house between these smaller jobs. I think it’s fair to say that Uggie has it better than most of us!
via USA Today
