As promised, I recorded Jon Provost’s appearance Wednesday morning on the CBS Early Show.
1 comment September 17th, 2008
Don’t miss Jon Provost tomorrow, on The Early Show. I’ll set my FiOS DVR for you, just in case. No need to guess when — 8:40 am ET on CBS.
If you want to get a real sense of what the social changes in America were like, going from the staid 50’s to the swinging 60’s, John’s fabulous autobiography, written with his wife Laurie Jacobson, Timmy’s In The Well, is the place to get it. You’ll also get to know a whole lot about Jon, including the good stuff about growing up in Hollywood.
Jon recently lent his name to the worthy cause called the New Child Actor’s Guild.
On a personal note, Jon was very supportive and helpful not long ago with a difficult situation we were having next door. I’m happy to say we no longer have that problem. Thanks, Jon!
Add comment September 16th, 2008
Nobody ever says just the name “Lassie”, do they? Doesn’t everybody who’s old enough to know the TV show say “Timmy and Lassie”?
Jon Provost says he has no problem with the idea that he played second fiddle to a dog, but once he was on board the series he was the star. Tommy Rettig was great playing Jeff, Lassie’s previous owner, but the character Timmy has achieved the status of a pop culture icon.
I’ve featured Provost several times here, and I highly recommend his tell-all book, Timmy’s In The Well. The Daily Breeze, out in L.A., CA way, has a good, concise article about Jon that I’ll link to right here.
The article mentions that Provost is in The Country Girl with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. Of the movie, Jon says, “At ease with grown-ups, I struck up a conversation with Mr. Crosby while we waited for technicians to light the set. Whatever I said made him laugh. “Say, this kid ad libs better than Bob Hope!”" And here Jon is, in “The Country Girl.”
6 comments June 11th, 2008
Timmy’s In The Well, Jon Provost’s autobiography, written with his wife Laurie Jacobson, is an amazing accomplishment. If you ever watched Jon as Timmy Martin in Lassie, you must get this book. Click here to see a complete episode of Lassie with Jon.
This is not a book for kids. Provost vividly evokes the sweeping social changes in America in the staid 50’s, through the psychedelic 60’s, and beyond. This is a real insider’s view of growing up in Hollywood, with many revelations about the life of a TV child star. All of the wild fun, the hard work, and the bitter pain, is told matter-of-factly, with total honesty and utter sincerity. There are many quotes and comments from colleagues and friends in the entertainment business, and although the photos are small, there are a lot of them, conveniently integrated into the text.
Jon Provost is appearing today at Canine Companions for Independence in Santa Rosa, California, where he lives. Santa Rosa is also home to the Charles M. Schulz Museum. Schulz’s widow Jeannie is a board member of Canine Companions for Independence.
1 comment February 2nd, 2008
Last month I had the pleasure of meeting Jon Provost of Lassie fame. Jon’s autobiography, Timmy’s In The Well is out, although I haven’t received my copy yet.
If you aren’t familiar with Lassie from the Provost years, here’s a complete show. “The Christmas Story,” from December 21, 1958. Great stuff. Note: I picked that preview frame because that car is the same Ford Country Squire wagon we had.
Add comment December 23rd, 2007