During the rise of canine performers like Luke, Teddy, and Strongheart in silent-era Hollywood, Jack Hoxie was a noted rodeo-cowboy-turned-actor in westerns, gaining his first feature-film credit in 1919 after many shorts. In 1923 Hoxie sent away to Australia for a pregnant Australian Shepherd with the goal of raising the pups to be performing dogs. Only one survived in the litter: Bunk.
Bunk, a stocky, rather short-legged blue merle, was Hoxie’s dog from the start, making their partnership as a screen cowboy and his dog naturally convincing. For all the specialty performance skills, Hoxie hired Bert de Marc as Bunk’s personal trainer.
Through his career, which launched in 1924 when Bunk was still a juvenile, he tracked down bad guys, wrangled livestock, and served as a cowboy’s best friend in a score of westerns with Hoxie. Bunk became renowned enough that he even appeared in movies without Hoxie, such as Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come in 1928. He performed into the early 1930s and lived to eighteen years old.
There is an excellent article about Bunk on the website Herding on the Web.
It’s hard to trace all Bunk films since most are lost and his publicity was misleading. Jack Hoxie claimed that Bunk was in most of his (Hoxie’s) feature films, but even if you watch those that survive, Bunk is seldom in evidence. In at least one film (Gold), he was featured in publicity, but only one dog in the distance, who may or may not be Bunk, is ever seen.
Here is his filmography to the best of our knowledge, nearly all of which are lost. The dog in his supposed final film, Law and the Lawless (1932), is tricolored, maybe Bunk’s son, which was not uncommon for canine actors in Hollywood at the time.
Ridgeway of Montana (1924) (first film, for which he received much publicity)
Fighting Fury (1924)
Hidden Loot (1925)
The White Outlaw (1925) (one of Bunk’s only surviving films)
The Demon (1926)
The Fighting Peacemaker (1926)
The Wild Horse Stampede (1926) (surviving only in a film archive in Moscow)
Red Hot Leather (1926)
The Fighting Three (1927)
Grinning Guns (1927)
Heroes of the Wild (1927) (possibly Bunk, billed as “Tornado”)
The Rambling Ranger (1927)
Rough and Ready (1927)
The Western Whirlwind (1927)
Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come (1928)
Shepherd of the Hills (1928)
Gold (1932) (surviving, but does not appear to show Bunk at all—see notes)
Laurence Trimble, today remembered more for Strongheart, reportedly got his first film gig for his Rough Collie (or Scotch Collie at the time) simply by being in the right place at the right time. He’d actually come to Vitagraph Studios in New York to write an article on movie making, but ended up offering his dog for a leading role.
Jean (1902–1916) became the second Collie movie star, and, in fact, only the second canine movie star in history after Blair of England.
Jean (1902–1916) appeared in at least 25 films, almost all of them shorts, and became the first ever American canine movie star, paving the way for Strongheart, Rin-Tin-Tin, Teddy, Lassie, and all the rest. Only Blair of England, also a Collie, preceded Jean, the Vitagraph Dog.
✯ Known Jean Filmography ✯
If you know more films of Jean’s, please let us know!
Jean and the Calico Doll (1910)
Jean, the Match-Maker (1910)
Jean Goes Foraging (1910)
Jean Goes Fishing (1910)
A Tin-Type Romance (1910)
Jean and the Waif (1910)
Where the Winds Blow (1910)
Her Mother’s Wedding Gown (1910)
Jean Rescues (1911)
When the Light Waned (1911)
The Stumbling Block (1911)
Tested by the Flag (1911)
Auld Lang Syne (1911)
Jean Intervenes (1912)
Playmates (1912)
The Church Across the Way (1912)
Bachelor Buttons (1912)
The Signal of Distress (1912)
Jean and Her Family (1913) – A documentary short.
Jean’s Evidence (1913)
’Fraid Cat (1914)
The Shepherd Lassie of Argyle (1914)
Through the Valley of Shadows (1914) – Possibly Jean’s first feature-length film.
Lost and Won (1915)
Far from the Madding Crowd (1915) – Another feature film at five reels.
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Some of the most famous dog movies ever made starred rescue dogs. “Old Yeller” was no exception. Spike, a huge Labrador Retriever/Mastiff mix, was adopted by Frank Weatherwax (trainer of Lassie) from the Van Nuys Animal Shelter in California for $3.00.
After his first film, Old Yeller (1957), Spike appeared on The Mickey Mouse Club with his costar Kevin Corcoran. He went on to star in two more features, A Dog of Flanders (1959) and The Silent Call (1961), and appear in other films and TV shows including The Westerner (1960).
His legacy lives on today as the poster-dog of one of the best-known dog novels, and films, of all time. You can find the Old Yeller novel here.
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Air Bud * Year: 1997 * Country: Canada/US * Breed content: High
Starring the immortal Buddy and launching a huge Golden franchise. The original film is by far the best and a standout among both Golden Retriever and dog films.
The Trial of Old Drum * Year: 2000 * Country: US * Breed content: High
Originally released as an Animal Planet TV movie, inspired by a true story, although the real dog was a mixed-breed.
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The Wizard of Oz * Year: 1939 * Country: US * Breed content: Medium
Most iconic of all Cairn films, with the immortal Terry playing “Toto”.
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