Jon Provost says that, “For the first time in 50 years of public appearances, I am meeting children who do not know about Lassie.” So it’s a good thing that Lassie will be returning to TV in the next year or two in a computer animated series. You can read more at this link.
2 comments July 14th, 2009
In 1968, Snoopy attempted to enter the World Wrist Wrestling Championship in Petaluma, CA, only to be disqualified for not having a thumb. This week in Petaluma, Jon Provost of “Timmy and Lassie” voted on the world’s ugliest dog, with a boxer named Pabst being awarded the distinction.
Jon’s super-duper tell-all autobiography, written with his wife Laurie Jacobson, Timmy’s In the Well is a great read, with many Hollywood stories, concentrating on the staid Fifties into the Swinging Sixties. Timmy never did fall in a well on the TV show, but as I pointed out a couple of years ago, a cartoon version of Timmy did fall in a well, in a Kenner Give-a-Show slide, and today that slide was given the Give-A-Show Projector Blog treatment.
7 comments June 27th, 2009
As promised, I recorded Jon Provost’s appearance Wednesday morning on the CBS Early Show.
This is how the program looks in FiOS HD, and I can see that I should have recorded the standard definition channel. Hey Nancy, CBS needs to start doing HD right!
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.”
Great death scene, Jon. Hey, I’ve met somebody who met Grace Kelly. And she was no dog!
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