Higgins (dog)

Higgins
Born	(1957-12-12)December 12, 1957 Los Angeles, California, United States
Died	November 11, 1975(1975-11-11) (aged 17) Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1960–1974
Notable role	Dog in Petticoat Junction Benji in Benji
Offspring	Benjean

Higgins (December 12, 1957 – November 11, 1975) was one of the best-known dog actors of the 1960s – 1970s. Most people remember him either as "Dog" or as "Benji," two of the most popular roles he played during a 14-year career in show business.

Biography

Early life

Animal trainer Frank Inn found the famous canine at the Burbank Animal Shelter as a puppy. A fluffy black-and-tan mixed breed dog, he was marked like a Border Terrier, and Inn believed him to be a mix of Miniature Poodle, Cocker Spaniel, and Schnauzer.

Career

Higgins's career was facilitated by Frank Inn, who also trained Arnold Ziffel (the pig) and all the other animals used on the Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres sitcoms. His on-set assistant trainers included Gerry Warshauer and Karl Miller.^[1]

As an actor, Higgins first came to national attention as the uncredited dog who played the character of "Dog" on the television sitcom Petticoat Junction for six of the show's seven seasons, from 1964 to 1970 appearing in 149 episodes.^[2] He guest-appeared on the television sitcom Green Acres with Eva Gabor in 1965 and also made a guest appearance on the television sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. He won a Patsy Award in 1967, and he was cover-featured on an issue of TV Guide magazine.

Higgins was able to convey a broad range of emotions through his facial expressions. Inn, who trained thousands of animals of many species during his lifetime, told reporters that Higgins was the smartest dog he had ever worked with and noted that during his prime years in television, he learned one new trick or routine per week and retained these routines from year to year, making it possible for him to take on increasingly varied and complex roles. Higgins's special tricks included climbing ladders, opening a mailbox and removing a letter, yawning, and sneezing on cue.

In 1971, Higgins starred in the film Mooch Goes to Hollywood with Zsa Zsa Gabor and Vincent Price. He came out of retirement at an estimated age of 14 to star in the 1974 feature film Benji, which was his greatest commercial success.

Personal life

Friends

Higgins had a close rapport with the actor Edgar Buchanan, who played Uncle Joe Carson on Petticoat Junction. In the official cast pictures taken each year during the run of Petticoat Junction, Buchanan is shown holding or petting Higgins.^[3][4][5] Buchanan guest-starred on 17 episodes of the sitcom Green Acres, and Higgins guest-starred in two of those appearances. Buchanan's last film was Benji, which was also the last film that Higgins made. The two actors had an obvious fondness for one another, which is especially clear in Benji, because the movie's naturalistic pacing allowed them to interact as friends rather than requiring that Higgins perform a specific trick for Buchanan to react to.

Frank Inn and Higgins were very close in real life as well as on the job. Inn wrote a poem about the dog called My Little Brown Dog.^[6]

Family

Higgins's progeny carried on his work in a continuing series of movies and television series featuring the Benji character, beginning with For the Love of Benji in 1977, which starred his daughter Benjean.^[7]

Benjean, who was also trained by Frank Inn, starred in more Benji movies than Higgins did because she was younger when she first took on the role. Benjean can be differentiated from Higgins by the fact that she was a female with no visible genitalia, and she had a large patch of white hairs on her muzzle around her nose, whereas Higgins was mostly black around his nose. In addition, Higgins’ bark was a deep, froggy sound, while Benjean had a higher-pitched, more traditional-sounding yelp. This is readily apparent when comparing Benji and For the Love of Benji.

Confusion between the two animals was increased when various editions of the first Benji movie were released with pictures of Benjean on the cover.

Death

Higgins died at age 17, just four weeks short of his 18th birthday. Inn had the dog's body cremated and saved the ashes in an urn on his mantelpiece. He then wrote a Christian poem in memory of Higgins called My Gift to Jesus.^[8] Inn died in 2002, and according his request, Higgins's ashes were buried in his coffin with him.^[9]

References