Post by Kaz ~;~ on Aug 19, 2010 12:12:16 GMT -5
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Date of Birth
10 December 1941, Queens, New York, USA
Date of Death
15 February 1996, Marina del Rey, California, USA (natural causes)
Birth Name
Thomas Noel Rettig
Height
5' 4"
Biography
Mr. Rettig was the first boy who tagged after Lassie during the famous collie's 20 years on the CBS television network. An already established child star, he was chosen from over 500 other boys to play the 11 year old midwestern farm boy, Jeff Miller, when "Lassie" (1954) premiered on September 12, 1954. He stayed with the series until 1958. He made his stage debut at age 6 in the touring company of "Annie Get Your Gun", with Mary Martin. His screen debut was at age 9 and he made 17 films. His most memorable screen performance was as the boy with the vivid imagination in The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953). Following "Lassie" (1954) came a troubled life filled with failure to land adult roles, arrests and convictions for growing marijuana and importing cocaine, bankruptcy, divorce, and a string of jobs including photographer, tool salesman, computer programmer, and health club manager. Mr. Rettig was also a long time advocate for the legalization of marijuana.
Spouse
Darlene Portwood (1959 - 1977) (divorced) 2 sons
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Trivia
For the last ten or so years of his life (starting 1984, maybe earlier), Tom was a computer software developer working on business application frameworks. He was regarded as one of the experts; a software guru in the area of desktop PC database applications such as dBase. At the time of his untimely death, he was a central figure in the community of FoxPro database developers and his passing was felt professionally and personally by many who had come to know Tom as a visionary and as generous mentor.
Father to actor Mason Storm.
After appearing with Mary Martin in "Annie Get Your Gun" for 22 months, Tommy was offered more stage roles, including "Peter Pan" and "The Member of the Wedding," the latter play made famous by Brandon de Wilde. His strong-willed mother, however, decided Tommy should go for the movies. Ironically, Tommy won the boy role on "Lassie" after de Wilde turned it down.
Was Marilyn Monroe's youngest date ever when he escorted her to the premiere of "River of No Return" in 1954.
TV folklore has it that when the producers had narrowed the casting down to three boy juveniles for the part of Lassie's young master, they allowed Lassie herself to make the final decision. Supposely the dog walked straight over to Tommy and affectionately nuzzled the boy, thus winning him the role.
More than anything else, due to his shortness in height (5' 4"), his adult career never panned out.
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Personal Quotes
"With Lassie, I'd gladly work for free!"
"By the time I was 9, I'd done everything - movies, stage, radio, TV. Everybody thought it was real cute for a kid my age to be so sophisticated, but it was murder on my emotional development. More than anything else, I wanted to be normal. I wanted to have friends, go out on dates - just lead a normal life. But things were always going too fast. Then too, I was spoiled as a kid, and still am. I was an only child, and that was about 80 percent of the problem."
"When I found out it was my last season on 'Lassie' I was ecstatic. I had gotten to the point where I really resented not being able to go out except on Saturday nights. Of course, when I did date girls their parents always trusted me because of my goody-goody TV image. The fools!"
-------------------------------
Date of Birth
10 December 1941, Queens, New York, USA
Date of Death
15 February 1996, Marina del Rey, California, USA (natural causes)
Birth Name
Thomas Noel Rettig
Height
5' 4"
Biography
Mr. Rettig was the first boy who tagged after Lassie during the famous collie's 20 years on the CBS television network. An already established child star, he was chosen from over 500 other boys to play the 11 year old midwestern farm boy, Jeff Miller, when "Lassie" (1954) premiered on September 12, 1954. He stayed with the series until 1958. He made his stage debut at age 6 in the touring company of "Annie Get Your Gun", with Mary Martin. His screen debut was at age 9 and he made 17 films. His most memorable screen performance was as the boy with the vivid imagination in The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953). Following "Lassie" (1954) came a troubled life filled with failure to land adult roles, arrests and convictions for growing marijuana and importing cocaine, bankruptcy, divorce, and a string of jobs including photographer, tool salesman, computer programmer, and health club manager. Mr. Rettig was also a long time advocate for the legalization of marijuana.
Spouse
Darlene Portwood (1959 - 1977) (divorced) 2 sons
------------------------
Trivia
For the last ten or so years of his life (starting 1984, maybe earlier), Tom was a computer software developer working on business application frameworks. He was regarded as one of the experts; a software guru in the area of desktop PC database applications such as dBase. At the time of his untimely death, he was a central figure in the community of FoxPro database developers and his passing was felt professionally and personally by many who had come to know Tom as a visionary and as generous mentor.
Father to actor Mason Storm.
After appearing with Mary Martin in "Annie Get Your Gun" for 22 months, Tommy was offered more stage roles, including "Peter Pan" and "The Member of the Wedding," the latter play made famous by Brandon de Wilde. His strong-willed mother, however, decided Tommy should go for the movies. Ironically, Tommy won the boy role on "Lassie" after de Wilde turned it down.
Was Marilyn Monroe's youngest date ever when he escorted her to the premiere of "River of No Return" in 1954.
TV folklore has it that when the producers had narrowed the casting down to three boy juveniles for the part of Lassie's young master, they allowed Lassie herself to make the final decision. Supposely the dog walked straight over to Tommy and affectionately nuzzled the boy, thus winning him the role.
More than anything else, due to his shortness in height (5' 4"), his adult career never panned out.
==================================
Personal Quotes
"With Lassie, I'd gladly work for free!"
"By the time I was 9, I'd done everything - movies, stage, radio, TV. Everybody thought it was real cute for a kid my age to be so sophisticated, but it was murder on my emotional development. More than anything else, I wanted to be normal. I wanted to have friends, go out on dates - just lead a normal life. But things were always going too fast. Then too, I was spoiled as a kid, and still am. I was an only child, and that was about 80 percent of the problem."
"When I found out it was my last season on 'Lassie' I was ecstatic. I had gotten to the point where I really resented not being able to go out except on Saturday nights. Of course, when I did date girls their parents always trusted me because of my goody-goody TV image. The fools!"
