Dead and Kind of Famous
The podcast where two friends (one who's a nobody and one who's kinda famous) dive into the life stories of dead folks who enjoyed a touch or two of fame in their time and now reside permanently in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Dead and Kind of Famous
Rags to Rainbow: Toto (Terry) the Dog
Did you know that Toto was a lil lady pup named Terry who used to pee on the rug? Well in this episode, Toto tells ALL. And she tells it in first person! Our main source for this episode was an adorable book called I, Toto, which was written by Willard Caroll after he discovered a scrapbook that shed light on Terry's life and featured her favorite cheddar biscuit recipes.
Happenstance led to Toto becoming the family dog of famed dog trainer, Carl Spitz, who taught Toto every trick in the book and took her on auditions where Terry rubbed paws with stars like Shirley Temple and Clarke Gable until she landed her famous role as Toto in The Wizard of Oz.
Join us for this adorable episode where Marissa voices Toto to PERFECTION with a voice that sounds like a 1930's Cindy Lauper. It's adorable, it's hilarious, and it's a tearjerker. After our last to episodes, this one should be a lovable breath of fresh air mixed with dog breath :)
As promised, here's the recipe for Toto's favorite cheddar biscuits:
2 cups flous
1 tbs salt
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
(see more details on instagram @deadandkindoffamous)
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Hello and welcome to Dead and Kind of Famous, where we dig into the life stories of dead folks who enjoyed a touch or two of fame in their time.
Courtney:And now reside permanently in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Marissa :I'm Marissa Rivera and I know nothing.
Courtney:And I'm Courtney Blomquist and I know all, or way too much. Anyway, Though the star of this episode is indeed cold and dead, I can guarantee you that this episode is going to be warm and fuzzy.
Marissa :Oh good, that's a good change.
Courtney:Yes, I know.
Marissa :It was a little skinny old bird I was like we need to lighten it up.
Courtney:Lighten it up this is our cutest episode and cutest subject yet and her name was Toto, aka Terry, aka Judy Garland's famous scene-stealing sidekick in the Wizard of Oz.
Marissa :And yes, she was a female, of course she was Worked twice as hard and still got mistaken for a guy. That's right.
Courtney:Now, toto is not, in fact, buried at Hollywood forever, but she does have a beloved memorial statue there, and that's what we're going to look at right now, so I'm going to show it to you, okay, um I didn't know this was there.
Marissa :I've been to the holly. I mean, obviously we've. I've lived in los angeles for almost 15 years, which is no, no hold on. I moved in 2010 and it's 2024, um, so yeah, almost 15 years. That's how math works. Oh wow, that's crazy. And I've never I've gone to Hollywood Forever Cemetery several times over the years.
Courtney:And.
Marissa :I don't remember this statue.
Courtney:It is there. I'll show you the picture right now. I also have a very bad memory.
Marissa :Well, which is part of why I don't know anything, because nothing sticks.
Courtney:This is cute too, because you can see some of the things that people have left for Toto, like lollipops and change a hairbrush. I feel like we can do better. I've got better suggestions. It says this monument is dedicated to the memory of the beloved Toto from the 1939 film the Wizard of Oz. After the death of Toto, originally named Terry, in 1945, owner and trainer Carl Spitz buried the Cairn Terrier on Not the Cairn Terrier, by the way, cairn.
Courtney:Cairn Cairn Terrier cairn cairn cairn terrier on his ranch in studio city, the 1958 construction of the ventura freeway destroyed her resting place. I know how dare they. I know we give you. This is on the other side of the memorial. We give you this new home 53 years later, as there's no place like home. Rest in peace, dear friend. The Toto Memorial Committee. I know, and it was there's an entire committee. I know they did it in 2011,. June 18th 2011.
Marissa :Oh, this is sweet and warm and fuzzy. It's really really cute.
Courtney:It's adorable and it says in memory of Toto on the front and people tie little scarves around her neck. It's so cute Because there's a little cute puppy on top that looks just like Toto. Oh my goodness.
Marissa :It's very, very sweet, Very sweet.
Courtney:You know I'm an idiot, I could have just clicked on this picture. I hate myself.
Marissa :Anyway, wow, we know technology so well. Good thing, we're doing a podcast.
Courtney:Okay. So go ahead, Marissa, and guess Toto's obituary, even though I'm well aware that you know who she is.
Marissa :Okay, Well, I'm going to do Toto's obituary through her voice. The lens of herself, Please do because I'm going to need it. Yeah, okay.
Courtney:That was actually just Toto's rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow which she has memorized, of course. Oh, my goodness, well, that was perfect, loved it. Also, I just want you to know Well, you'll see, you'll see. So let's just get into the real story. Let's get into it. So the main source that I used for the story is a book called I toto by willard carol I like that font.
Marissa :I know you can. It's cute. You can definitely look through.
Courtney:It's so, so cute, it's the stupidest, cutest book. I mean, like it's not stupid, it's just stupid cute. So, uh, by willard carol and to be honest, I I don't know how much of this story Carroll wrote and how much he found. I say this because the book starts with its origin story, and that story is this the bulldozed site of Carl Spitz's Hollywood dog training school in the San Fernando Valley. The area was being entirely overturned to make way for a wider freeway and many did not even know that it used to be the site of a famed canine school. But Carol had just been paying a visit to Alice Spitz, the surviving wife of famed dog trainer Carl Spitz, in an effort to learn more about Toto, and it was she who had told him of the original location of her husband's school. 12, well, sorry, 1-2-3-5, I don't know how do you say this number?
Marissa :1-2-3-5-0.
Courtney:1-2-3-5-0 Riverside Drive, and also had let him know that this had been the site of Toto's burial. And by complete happenstance, Carol arrived on the site, nudged at some dirt with his shoe and hit something solid a nine by nine square box.
Courtney:Stop it I know, and in that box was an autobiographical scrapbook that told the life story of Toto, whose name was actually Terry, a diehard Wizard of Oz fan since his childhood. Carol had arrived here with the intention of getting a better sense of Terry's life, and now he had become the man who had stumbled upon her life story, which is amazing.
Marissa :It truly is. That's so wild.
Courtney:Yeah, that said, I wonder how much of the book was written when Carol discovered it. It's written in first person from Toto's perspective. So you truly.
Marissa :I know she handed me the book, guys, but I did not open it because I don't want any spoilers? Yeah, yes, oh my God, You're kidding, it's so cute.
Courtney:You're going to have to come up with a voice that's like a words voice for Toto.
Marissa :Okay, just so you know you got it.
Courtney:Yeah, that's what I was hinting at before. Okay great. It's written in first person from Toto's perspective and contains recipes and opinionated tales of the various sets Terry worked on Opinionated tales.
Marissa :Oh, it's opinionated. Ooh, terry's going to spill the tea, it's right and it's entirely adorable.
Courtney:Yes, keeping it for Iris for when she gets older. But it has enough insider knowledge that, if I had to guess, I'd say that it was Terry's guardian and trainer, carl Spitz, and his wife Alice, who probably had a heavy hand in the creation of the book. But that's just my own hunch. So, all that said, let's go ahead and get into it let's go.
Courtney:Terry was a scruffy Cairn Terrier who became the star we all know and adore as her most notable role, toto. She is, without a doubt, one of the most famous dogs of all time.
Marissa :Yeah, it's really like her and Lassie. Yeah, and like the dogs and cat from Homeward Bound, in that order.
Courtney:Speaking of other famous dogs. If you're wondering what it takes to become a bark gable in this, town.
Marissa :Oh, can't wait for all the dog puns.
Courtney:Yes, um know that terry had many things going for her from the get. For starters, she was born in the right place at the right time. Born in 1933, she was smack dab in the middle of the golden age of canine film stars. This adorable moment of furry star power largely began with the discovery of rin tin tin, who found stardom with the film man from hell's river and went on to star in 26 other films 26.
Marissa :This dog has worked more than me.
Courtney:Before his death. As the story goes, it was in 1918 that the German shepherd Pup was rescued, along with his mother and siblings, from a World War I battlefield by an American soldier named Lee Duncan. The dogs were found huddled together in an abandoned kennel An abandoned kennel, not a kettle. Lee rescued the dogs and kept Rin Tin Tin to himself, training him and helping him establish himself in silent films. Arguably the first dog to become a household name, rin Tin Tin blazed the trail for a heap of fuzzy professionals, including Pal, the Wonder Dog of our gang, aka Little Rascals.
Courtney:Oh yeah, and Pal also known as Lassie. So I guess Pal was a very popular dog name in the 30s.
Marissa :Yeah, Pal was the 1930s version of Buddy.
Courtney:Yeah, your dog was named Buddy. My dog was named Buddy. My dog was named Buddy, yeah.
Marissa :He does not seem like a pal, but you know, in 1930s he would have.
Courtney:Right, it's true, because it means the same thing. And now today it's like probably just as basic as people are. It's like friend.
Marissa :My dog friend. My dog friend Middle name Kale.
Courtney:But she was pretty darn close to LA, so it's definitely still a plus when stardom is your destiny. But what wasn't so much of a plus was that Terry's original guardians did not quite understand her, not because she was a dog without the ability to speak, but because she kept wetting the carpet, the bed, the car and whatever else she parked her paws upon.
Marissa :No, Terry, that's a big no-no, yes, no, no peepees in the house. No, no, no peepees in the house, no.
Courtney:So Terry's humans sought out the help of acclaimed dog trainer Carl Spitz. Now, Spitz was not typically called upon for tasks as menial as housebreaking.
Marissa :He at this point no, no, no, he was a trainer to the stars. Maybe To the stars.
Courtney:He, at this point had formed a reputation as Hollywood's most respected and bona fide dog trainer. Yeah see, yeah, and he'd earned a reputation by training and handling big screen doggy darlings. Spitz was a German born immigrant who had moved to the US in 1926. And he'd wasted no time in opening Spitz's Hollywood dog training school just one year after his arrival Was this timing is suspicious. Wait why?
Marissa :Was he a Nazi? Oh no, Actually, I think. Yes, wait why was he a nazi? Oh no, actually, I think escaping. Yes, I think he was escaping. Okay, good to know. Yeah, he was not a nazi dog trainer. I feel if, like, he might have been strict, but he wasn't technically a nazi wouldn't that have been if you were nazi in 19,.
Courtney:wouldn't it have been a good time to stay in Germany, though I guess you know what I mean. That's when you're like yeah you're right.
Marissa :You're like oh, my people are gaining power. I must stay.
Courtney:Right, yeah, like they're not the people fleeing. This was at a time when training dogs for the public was, in Spitz's words, considered nonsense, considered nonsense. The public was, in spitz's words, considered nonsense, considered nonsense. There weren't any caesar milans who had paved the way yet, but spitz had always had a deep love for animals and a gift for understanding them, so he'd been dedicating his life to training dogs since 1919. His original calling card when training dogs in Germany was utilizing silent commands via gestures that could be used by deaf dog owners.
Marissa :Oh, cool yeah.
Courtney:And this would become a skill that would serve him well in Hollywood. Shortly after his arrival in the States, talkies had begun to take off, and being able to guide an animal's performance without making a sound was an invaluable skill. On these new, friends.
Marissa :Wow, guide an animal's performance without making a sound was an invaluable skill on these new wow, yes, and even think about that. Yeah, that's amazing.
Courtney:So it's kind of like a perfect he was just like the perfect guy yeah, for this town.
Marissa :Perfect like the perfect set of skills, perfect timing exactly.
Courtney:Wow, um. After cutting his teeth, working with two great danes in the al jolson film, big boy spitz found himself in steady demand as a virtuoso dog handler, and dogs from his own school began to make names for themselves as well. First there was Prince Carl. Great name, yep, great name for a Great Dane, yeah, in the Most Dangerous Game. And then Buck Clark Gable, st Bernard in Call of the Wild.
Marissa :Wow.
Courtney:Buck went on to find work in many films thereafter and truly became the first household name to come out of Spitz's kennel of star canines.
Marissa :Wow, this is impressive. Yeah, guys, I just spent the whole day with my friend's puppy today, and it is. It was magical, but, dear God, training dogs is, it's exhausting.
Courtney:It's like I mean there's a reason. People are just like I'm going to hire someone.
Marissa :And like silently too, which is like.
Courtney:I feel like you, that to me that's like you have to have that special touch. Yes, you have to have that special, that bond, that empathy with an animal that is like a unique. You know how to communicate Exactly. Other notable dogs included Prince Musty, mr Pinky, fluff, lucky Dog and Firefly, to name a few.
Marissa :Oh, I like Firefly.
Courtney:Yeah.
Marissa :Also, I really like that TV show Keep going oh, like firefly. Yeah, also I really like that uh tv show keep going oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right, or was it a movie?
Courtney:was firefly it was a tv show.
Marissa :It was with um christina hendrix she was in it for a second oh okay, she was, she had, she was in one episode. She was like in one episode or she might have like had a three episode art. I feel like she was like on the cover. Well, maybe Firefly is the movie and they brought her back for the movie. I'll cut this out too. Yeah Jesus, this is also just us hanging out, I know, I know.
Courtney:Hanging out at like 10, 20. That's right. Okay, but name dropping famous dogs is so much more fun than famous people.
Marissa :Yes, agreed. Also, excuse me Musty, I knew him, mr Pinky, yes, I also knew him.
Courtney:Wait, what's the dog's name that you hung out with today?
Marissa :Her name is Lila Lila oh, that's so sweet. Lila Joe, lila Joe.
Courtney:So sweet, so sweet. I forgot that you hung out with the dog. I mean, like I didn't put it together, that you just hung out with the dog.
Marissa :Yes, this is the doggy day. I love it. This is the best day I love it.
Courtney:But Terry, who was by far the smallest dog at Spitz's Academy, would go on to make the biggest impression, though biggest impression Though she arrived as a timid carpet wetter, spitz had patience and a way with a little dog that allowed her to truly find her light Must have been.
Marissa :she was anxious.
Courtney:I know the way it's described in the book and remember it's written first person from Terry herself, so you need to do a dog voice, Marissa. Okay, or whatever that is is as follows whatever that is is as follows Foist day, I love a 1930s dog.
Marissa :Now I'm going to do more dog voice. First day, first hour. This man, mr Carl, takes me out of my kennel and starts making all these hand signals and repeating things over and over. I remember thinking he's sort of amusing, very animated, and he certainly had patience. It was all very repetitive, but he was so sincere that all I wanted to do was make him happy, so I decided to reward him. Two days later I'm rolling around lying on my back with my paws in the air playing dead not my favorite routine standing up on my hind legs and barking when requested.
Courtney:Wow, that was so good. Oh my God, I love that. You just like right out of the gate. You've been waiting for this role.
Marissa :This is mine, this role is mine.
Courtney:I am to play toto somebody make this movie where a 30 something woman plays the tiny dog. Once she'd proven that she could manage her excitable bladder, terry was allowed into spitz's home, where she was loved and adored by his wife and children. And it's good that this was the case, because, in the midst of all this, the humans who had dropped Terry off for housebreaking who Terry herself refers to in the book as the screamers from Pasadena- the screamers from Pasadena.
Courtney:It's never going to get old. Hadn't paid rent on Terry's boarding. Those stupid screamers, oh my God, the stupid screamers. So all of a sudden the Spitzes had a family dog.
Marissa :That's great. Yeah, that's great.
Courtney:And despite her ability to learn routines, no one was putting pressure on Terry to become a star like the other dogs at the academy. She was just the family dog who enjoyed eating the delicious cheddar biscuits that Mrs Spitz made whenever she was allowed. Ah cute, yes, and there's a cheddar biscuits recipe in the book.
Marissa :Stop it. We might have to post that in the notes, I mean, I think so I think so. I think so.
Courtney:It's so, I think so. It's so cute, this book, you guys. I told her it's so cute. Everything changed when Clark Gable came around with famed columnist Hedda Hopper for a photo op publicity stunt with his co-star in Call of the Wild Buck. The St Bernard Gable played with Buck and rubbed his belly, and all the while photos were snapped of the meeting and then, just as soon as he'd arrived, Clark Gable was leaving.
Marissa :Bye.
Courtney:But Terry was offended that Clark would leave without meeting her first. This is such a Trudy move.
Marissa :It truly is.
Courtney:Marissa's dog, yes. So she howled and made a big fuss from inside her little kennel and she was loud enough to draw Gable Hopper and Mr Carl over to her. Gable himself knelt down and said Do you want to do Gable?
Marissa :Let's get a closer gander on this beauty.
Courtney:And when Spitz opened the kennel door, Terry flew out and knocked Clark Gable's dentures right out of his head.
Marissa :Damn. Oh wait, so he was old here. So hold on, no, he wasn't. No, he had full dentures. I mean, or were they like flippers or something? I don't know.
Courtney:There were some kind of denture. Yeah, he wasn't like he was in his prime. You know if he had like a publicity team following him around for a movie. He was in his prime.
Marissa :He had fucking fake teeth.
Courtney:I know, isn't that crazy I mean no, I know Not really.
Marissa :I mean I found that shocking as well. People are like Hollywood beauty standards have gotten crazy and it's like this has been going on Right Since the dawn of Hollywood.
Courtney:Because they just couldn't do what are? They called V?
Marissa :Because they just couldn't do. What are they called Veneers? Yeah, so now it's veneers. Now it's veneers. Now they literally shave your teeth down.
Courtney:Into nubbins.
Marissa :Into little scary ass nubbins. It's crazy. It's crazy looking. And then they stick and porcelain. They stick the stuff that toilet bowls are made out of into your head. I just, Is it porcelain veneers? I think so.
Courtney:That's yes, yeah, I mean that's. Another thing we don't know about is porcelain veneers. I feel like I mean.
Marissa :I still have my own teeth.
Courtney:I do too, and I think that you know grinding down, grinding down part is wild.
Marissa :I'm like, do they put you to sleep for that? Because they all of your teeth. Well, I guess it's the teeth in the front, but like that, it's how long does it absolute torture?
Courtney:It sounds like you're paying all this money to have somebody. I mean torture you. You're really torture you, yeah.
Marissa :It's like that when you and for what, and for what, to have a toilet mouth.
Courtney:To have a stupid toilet mouth, now to have that bright, beautiful Hollywood smile. I mean, I've heard of a potty mouth, but my goodness, oh my God.
Marissa :Anyways, clark Gable had a potty mouth, yep anyways, clark gable had a potty mouth.
Courtney:Yep, um, so his so terry flew out and knocked clark gable's dentures right out of his head. Everyone crawled around until they were found and after clark had discreetly popped them back in.
Marissa :You didn't wash. Jesus christ, I have invisign and let me tell you, like those things after I eat, after they come out of my head for any reason, they are washed, brushed. My teeth are brushed and flossed and like rinsed. And, jesus Christ, he lost his teeth in a kennel and I was like whoa, so embarrassing. Lost his teeth in a kennel and was like whoa, so embarrassing. Gosh Can't be seen without my fucking doggy doo-doo dentures, gross. I'm so grossed out by Clark Gable. This is Hollywood heartthrob Clark.
Courtney:Gable.
Marissa :This is some tea Already. She's spilling the tea.
Courtney:I know she's spilling the pee and she's spilling the tea.
Marissa :That was so dumb, keeping it Absolutely.
Courtney:Okay. So everyone crawled around until they were found and after Clark had discreetly popped them back in, he said lesson for the day take care of your teeth, because I guess he probably, like I don't know, dipped or something.
Marissa :Jesus Christ.
Courtney:And that was Terry's first time meeting a Hollywood star in human form at least and because she'd made an impression with him, spitz started to have a hunch that Terry might be able to make an impression with others in Hollywood, so he started taking her out on auditions.
Marissa :Oh wow. Yes, I guess dogs also have to audition. It can't just be a looks thing. Yes, I guess dogs also have to audition. It can't just be a looks thing. No, they have to have the skills to back it up. No, unlike many of their human counterparts. God, I should know I'm all face.
Courtney:Yeah, I feel like the amount of times I'm all face and natural teeth and no talent, the amount of times Marissa has been like and my scene partner in this audition was well, they were green it's like so it's just like your most.
Marissa :It's like your most shady compliment or not. Compliment it's like your most shady, but like nice girl, like they sucked, you know well, listen, we were all green, I was green and I fucking sucked all the time at auditions when I first so you're like they're temple, they temporarily suck, that's like yeah, right, yeah that's why you say they're green, because they can.
Courtney:You can't say they can graduate to another color, you know it's like it's like karate. Yeah, which belt you graduate to another color. You know it's ripped for gross. It's like karate. Yeah which belt? Okay, so one day, spitz and Terry showed up on the fox lot and were led into a room with a bunch of little terriers that looked exactly like her Marissa, I'm sure this is I know that feeling.
Marissa :Yes, I know that feeling. You walk into a room and it's a bunch of bitches with your same haircut. It's wild.
Courtney:You feel like you're in a mannequin factory.
Marissa :Yeah, it's wild.
Courtney:But they were no match for Terry and she was not impressed.
Marissa :In her recollection in I Toto Terry says In Aetoto, terry says what a rowdy bunch, yapping and scratching and squealing and growling and emitting these foul smells. One little cur produced a series of high notes which would have made Kate Smith envious, envious. I lay down and put my paws over my ears and then, as if the sound emanating from Her Highness with the tonsils Wasn't excruciating enough, one mangy candidate scurried over to the middle of that room and well, right there on the rug, and we're not talking wee-wee. Okay, I added the okay, and we're not talking wee-wee. As if that wasn't enough, the little guy stepped in it and left tracks everywhere. I closed my eyes and shook my head. Amateurs.
Courtney:Why do I feel like this voice is Cindy Lauper? That would compliment Cindy Lauper. I know that she's a little dog. She kind of is a little dog. She's like a little like bright, spry little springy dog?
Marissa :Yeah, she is. She's a Cairn Terrier, yep.
Courtney:Yep. Eventually, terry pulled out all the stops for a room of burly Hollywood bigwigs. She played dead, she barked on command, she leapt over her leash. But they still weren't sure. So they felt the need to call in the opinion of the star of the film, an adorable actress named Miss Shirley Temple.
Marissa :A chemistry read with Shirley Temple, I know.
Courtney:So they took Terry to her bungalow where she impressed both Shirley and her Pomeranian Ching Ching. Problematic, problematic name. Yeah yeah, is that like? Like is a? What kind of breed is a Pomeranian? Is that like a?
Marissa :direct. Okay, hold on.
Courtney:I thought it was a Chinese thing, so maybe it is.
Marissa :Is it? It's a Peranian. Is that like a direct okay? Hold on I. I thought it was a chinese thing, so maybe it is is it?
Courtney:it's a pomeranian or it's a chinese?
Marissa :I think so, but that might be the other one that's close to it. Um, pomeranians, it might be english of northeastern europe.
Courtney:Right, right, right, okay, um, but still, um, but still is ching ching right, right, well, she was a child amongst who should have known better, right, right, but yeah, at this time I don't you know, poor shirley, I'm pretty sure, sure, terry was treated better and it was Shirley who told Toto she was hired for the very first time. Wow, because that's the kind of clout Shirley Temple had at like eight years old.
Marissa :Yeah, she did.
Courtney:So soon. Terry was starring in a film called Bright Eyes, with Shirley Temple herself in the role of Rags. This is the first, or this is the film where Shirley Temple sings the Good Ship Lollipop. It looks like she's like not wearing pants.
Marissa :I know. All right, but there's a yeah there's like another clip where she like has toto, but it's yeah, you can't anyway, cute, very cute, okay.
Courtney:So it seems like a really cute, uh, really cute and sweet film, but the plot is actually really depressing. And this is it. Having lost her father to a plane crash, five-year-old Shirley Shirley Temple and her mother, mary Lois Wilson, live with the Smith family, for whom Mary serves as a domestic. With the exception of Uncle Ned Charles Sullen, the Smiths don't much care for Shirley and she greatly prefers spending time with her godfather, pilot James Merritt, james Dunn, when Mary is killed in a car accident. Jesus, Christ.
Marissa :I know she loses both of her parents.
Courtney:The distraught Shirley becomes the object of a bitter custody battle between James and Ned the 30s, am I right? Depression era begets depressing plots, that's right. Like what, the fuck what? And then they're like let's sing the good ship lollipop. I mean, I guess you'd have to in a movie like that.
Marissa :Jesus.
Courtney:Yeah, horrible.
Marissa :But Terry was a delight in it.
Courtney:Terry was a delight. Very quickly Terry found regular work. She went on to star in a Paramount picture called Ready for Love and then the United Artists film Dark Angel with Merle Oberon. And it was on this set that Terry discovered how much she disliked working with wind machines.
Marissa :Know what he does.
Courtney:Let me tell you.
Marissa :Let me tell you that little known secret in Hollywood Nobody, nobody, likes wind machines.
Courtney:I mean why would you? No, it's kind of outside right now Kind of feels like a wind machine.
Marissa :Outside. Okay, it's crazy. We're having Santa Ana winds right now and it is insane and I sound a little bit stuffed up because I can't. I am from the wind picking up all that pollen and stuff and like rained and like pollen was everywhere, and then the wind happened, and now I feel like I'm getting sick. But I know I'm not getting sick, it's just the wind. The wind made me ill today, so I get it.
Courtney:I'm with you, terry, on this one I feel like, yeah, people in like cold weather places are like this is the kind of thing people in los angeles talk about. This is what they complain about.
Marissa :The wind, really winds, oh my god. And people from like the windy city City are like fuck off yeah pretty much.
Courtney:But soon after Dark Angel, Terry found her way to working with yet another huge human star. I mean, he was like a normal size.
Marissa :He was, but he was a star.
Courtney:He was a big star. He was a big star, right.
Marissa :Normal size person, but it was a big star.
Courtney:Right, right, right, mr Spencer Tracy, the film was called Fury and it was filmed in 1936. And the plot of fury was this an innocent man narrowly escapes being burned to death by a lynch mob and seeks revenge like wow I mean jeez okay I yeah, another I mean yep, the depression again. I guess they were just like yeah things to me. I feel like the audience is like, yeah, this is, this is what resonates right.
Marissa :Art resonates the art. What is? It imitates life. Yeah, yeah, which is like it's truly horrifying.
Courtney:Yeah, um, but in a little foreshadowing to the pinnacle of terry's, she played a dog named Rainbow who gets taken in from the rain by Spencer Tracy's character. That's really cute, I know. It's such a sweet shining moment in such a dark, weird film. After that, terry went on to work with legendary filmmaker Cecil B DeMille in a Paramount film called the Buccaneer. She was truly becoming a dog who had worked with all the greats. And then at this point in the book there's this hilariously drawn out section about working on a B movie called Barefoot Boy on what was known as Poverty Row. It is a true Hollywood bitch fest that is definitely coming from Carl Spitz and being funneled into the voice of the little female dog so that he could be as freely bitchy as he wanted to be, and it is hilarious.
Marissa :Oh my God, Wait time out. What is Poverty Row?
Courtney:It was like you know pretty much. It's like a term of saying OK. Poverty Row is a slang term used to refer to Hollywood films produced from the 1920s to the 1950s by small and mostly short lived B-movie studios.
Marissa :Got Hollywood films produced from the 1920s to the 1950s by small and mostly short-lived B-movie studios Got it, sheesh yeah.
Courtney:So that's like an inside term Inside.
Marissa :Inside Okay 1930s.
Courtney:Okay, so this is the bitch fest, great.
Marissa :The only refreshing thing was that there weren't the customary three suits at the audition. Seems they could only afford one suit. And what a suit that guy wore. It didn't look like he had been pressed, since Buck was a puppet. To top it off, he wore the same one every day. If you ask, ask me, he's the one who needed the flea bath nail and trim.
Courtney:Well, I'll stop there oh, but just real quick what she's saying I'll stop there. It's because in the book it keeps saying that, like for every movie, it's like she had to get a flea bath, a nail trim and an enema. So that's what she's like. I'll stop there. Oh my gosh.
Marissa :Poor thing. Come to find out, though, that Mr Taddy ran the studio. Anyway, they were so cheap at Monogram that they didn't even bother to come up with a name for my character. Call it Terry. The studio boss said that's its name, ain't it? I gave him a very mean look, that warned. Watch who you're calling it. Buddy. That schlub worked us so hard, hour after hour with no breaks, just to get the film in the can. They even used one of those rusty cans to put my grub in. Boy, did I miss Shirley and Fox and Paramount?
Courtney:I love it. She's like excuse me, do you know who I?
Marissa :am. Do you know?
Courtney:Spitz I mean Terry goes on to say that the frumpy studio boss got to the point that he was yelling for everyone to pick up the pace and that they needed to finish the movie by Saturday. Or you're all through, I'm serious. And that was when, again, according to the dog that narrates this book in person, in first person, and not Carl Spitz Spitz lost his mind on this man and said if you're so serious, oh sorry, marissa, you know what, why don't you do it? Okay, german Spitz. German said if you're so serious, oh sorry, marissa, you know what, why don't you do it? Okay, german.
Marissa :Spits german I can't do a german accent uh how do you do it um.
Courtney:Hold on, let me think, if you're so, still not sounding Russian. Yeah, okay. Why are you wearing that suit? That's what it is. Why are you wearing that suit? And for that's terrible, if you're Wait, if you're. That's Russian too.
Marissa :Everything reverts back to Russian. I can't. That's exactly. I can't go to. I can't do German. It ends up either Russian or English, I don't know how.
Courtney:Yeah, who ends that suit? I don't know. If you're so serious, then why are you wearing that suit? That's what he said, okay.
Marissa :I will say if you're so serious, then why are you wearing that suit? That's what he said. If you're so serious, then why are you wearing that suit?
Courtney:Heavens what a zinger, what a true, burn.
Marissa :I really hated that suit.
Courtney:Yep, and so, for the first time, terry was fired from a job. Wow. But it was immediately after this icky and exhausting experience that Terry's big break and iconic faded role fell into her little lapdog lap, because while Carl and Terry were being pushed around on that subpar set, mgm had called.
Marissa :They called baby.
Courtney:They called and they were drooling over Terry for their upcoming feature.
Marissa :Practically panting at the thought. That's right.
Courtney:Terry. So the day after being fired, Terry and Carl booked it over to MGM and headed right into the office of the head of production, Mervyn Leroy, without having to make it past any suits at all. What?
Marissa :a great day.
Courtney:Yep Terry was becoming a big deal, as Terry aka Carl says in the book.
Marissa :Mr Leroy's the major mucky muck in this new movie.
Courtney:And the new movie Terry was trotted in for was the Wizard of Oz, the Wizard of Oz. And Mr Leroy just looked Terry up and down, glanced at his copy of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz and said she's the one. Looks just like the dog on the cover.
Marissa :Wow, that was it. That was it. Yep, she became offer only on the spot, that's right.
Courtney:And so Terry was booked to play one of literature's most famous dogs, toto. Literature's most famous dogs, toto. Her cast mates included burt larr as the cowardly lion, ray bulger as the scarecrow, margaret hamilton as the wicked witch who was referred to in the book affectionately as maggie terry loved her maggie and, of course, judy garland as dorothy. Contrary to her character in the film, maggie hamilton was a true dog person and befriended Terry right away. But the first time Terry saw her in her green Wicked Witch makeup she had an accident. So I guess the makeup achieved its frightening effect.
Marissa :Wow, oh poor thing. Poor Terry. You know, you're like what happened. My friend, where'd she go?
Courtney:Now, in the beginning, Buddy Ebsen was cast as the Tin man, but after an allergic reaction to the aluminum powder that was applied to his face, the role went to Jack Haley.
Marissa :How much would that fucking suck to lose out on an entire role because they can't or won't change the makeup?
Courtney:Well, I mean just because, yeah, it's like you're getting hives and they're like, sorry, we got to keep shooting.
Marissa :Bye, yeah Wild Jesus. Sorry you, just you're not that important and also like it's something that, like they caused you know yeah.
Courtney:Oh, oh yeah. I do feel like this time period was very like just keep it moving, like you don't matter. Whatever right um no unions yet, yeah, no no well, no, I think it was all contract players. Yeah, contract players. At that point in time, they switched to a paste instead of a powder to avoid the same problem. And when I looked up these actors, I did not realize that buddy epson was the actor who played jed.
Courtney:Clamp it on the beverly hillbillies and got and doc go lightly and breakfast at Tiffany's. Are you familiar with either of those references?
Marissa :Yes, I am Okay, I am actually that's good I feel yeah, cause I feel we talked about breakfast. So he went on to be fine, oh yeah.
Courtney:He was like a huge.
Marissa :Yeah, he was fine, he was in a. He was in one of those people who's just in everything?
Courtney:Was that the guy who got replaced, or?
Marissa :the guy who got replaced, yeah, so he was like okay, bye. Yeah, yeah, and then kept it moving, and if that isn't a lesson to all of us actors and just everyone in this industry, like you can get replaced, but just fucking keep it moving.
Courtney:Keep it moving, that's right. Also, the Wizard of Oz wasry's first film in technicolor. Before that she'd only been filmed in black and white.
Marissa :You know when I first saw wizard of oz for the first time. I was living in puerto rico with my family and we went to the one blockbuster and, uh, rented wizard of oz and I put it in our VHS player because it was a VHS and it started playing in black and white and I was like we got the wrong one. I was like, oh no, we got to go back. We got the wrong one. I was so annoyed. I was like, oh, I was so upset. And then, you know, and my mom was like, just keep watching it, it gets better, it'll fix itself yeah yeah, it gets better yeah, it's just a little glitch in the beginning.
Courtney:Yeah, that's so funny. And also it was terry's biggest and most important character, yet not just because of the hype and prestige, as she says, of the film in Aitoto.
Marissa :It's all about me. I have the closest relationship to anyone to Dorothy. I'm why she runs away from home and why she does all sorts of things to save me from something called the Wicked Witch. I'm in almost every scene in the Blessed Picture.
Courtney:Perfect but, as many accounts from other actors and extras can confirm, working on Oz was tough and full of pitfalls. For one thing, the directors of the film kept changing and in total the film went through five directors.
Marissa :I did not know that. I didn't know that either before. That's crazy yeah.
Courtney:Five. I know, jeez, there was Norman. I can't spell it. T-a-u-r-o-g, so I'm going to say Norman Taurog, taurog, taurog yeah, taurog sounds better. Norman Taurog who largely worked on the film during pre-production and early technicolor tests, and after he got pulled away to work on the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, he was replaced by Richard Thorpe. Thorpe lasted a couple of weeks only and apparently no one was happy with him the whole time.
Marissa :In Aetoto, terry says A lot of whispering and many late night meetings. Rumors were flying.
Courtney:It's truly such a perfect voice. I like King Coker. And then Thorpe was replaced by George Cooker, who was never really hired to direct, but rather to consult. It was Cukor who made lasting choices about Dorothy's appearance. She was originally desired to be blonde, according to Terry.
Marissa :In her new Cukor-approved Dorothy getup, Judy looked a bit different. Good, different, but different. Her hair was styled and more becomingly and her gingham apron was better tailored. Actually, she looked darn perfect.
Courtney:I want to be Terry's friend if that's how she talks.
Marissa :She looks different. It was good. It was good. It was good. She tried out a new look and you know what she slayed, yeah.
Courtney:It was head and tails above everything.
Marissa :Can you imagine her being blonde? No Right, not at all, especially because red was just. You know, it's the iconic color, so I'd like to have her be a redhead too. I think Is she a redhead? I think she's a brunette. It's like Is she blonde? Auburn, that's Auburn.
Courtney:That's like brown. That's Auburn. Really, I always just thought she was a brunette. Okay, let's cut all this out. Then came Victor Fleming, who is actually credited as the film's director and responsible for the majority of actual directing that can be seen in the final film. Then he left to replace Cukor once again on Gone with the Wind Jeez.
Marissa :He's always cleaning up Cougar's messes.
Courtney:I guess he was only a consultant or whatever he just ended up doing more than I think he was supposed to. Or had agreed to.
Marissa :Overworked and underpaid.
Courtney:Unfortunately, we're all familiar. Still an issue.
Marissa :Still an issue, still a Hollywood practice there, yeah, csl Exploitation.
Courtney:We love it, we hate it. The remainder of the scenes, which were just the sepia-tinted Kansas scenes, were directed by King Vidor. That's like Vidor King V-I-D-O-R, and it's just King. I guess that's his first name.
Marissa :His first name is King yeah.
Courtney:It's also said that Mervyn Leroy, the film's producer, also did some uncredited directing.
Marissa :Everyone had their hands in the sheesh, yeah, but I could see being completely okay with having a completely different director for the Kansas scenes. Totally, it's a whole other vision.
Courtney:It's a whole other world, so the Kansas scenes.
Marissa :Totally, it's a whole nother vision, it's a whole nother world. So I agree with that. Yeah, that like that was cool yeah.
Courtney:Yeah, absolutely. But Terry was such a true professional and rolled with the punches until she had a very unfortunate run in with a winky. The winkies were the wicked witch of the West's guards and they kind of looked like the witch. And a royal guard from Buckingham Palace had a baby. Do you remember them? I'll find it, hold on.
Marissa :Oh my.
Courtney:God, I know they're horrifying.
Marissa :They're truly horrifying, yeah.
Courtney:So like a furry.
Marissa :Oh my God, Poor Terry. And then, when she so this is her account of when she bumped into this.
Courtney:Yes, the Winkies were the creature so according to Terry herself of the incident.
Marissa :One day we were shooting and there were dozens of these costumed horrors marching around, looking menacing, and this lumbering brute, who never watched where he was, marched right past me and stomped on my paw. Now that Winky liked his grub and he must have weighed about a thousand pounds when he stepped on my foot. I squealed. I mean squealed.
Courtney:And due to her injury, Terry was sent home Apparently. Judy Garland herself told MGM bigwig Louis B Mayer in no uncertain terms that Terry needed a rest. And it seems like Terry needed someone in her corner because MGM had not been all that understanding about injuries during the filming of Oz. Because MGM had not been all that understanding about injuries during the filming of Oz, Maggie Hamilton, the Wicked Witch of the West, and her stunt double caught on fire and had been expected to return to set the next day what.
Courtney:And they were furious when the original Tin man was hospitalized after inhaling the aluminum in his face paint and promptly replaced him. So that's what happened. It was like his lungs.
Marissa :And they were like you idiot. Why did you?
Courtney:breathe while you were having your makeup.
Marissa :Oh my God, yeah, I thought he was having a. It was like a total body inside and out reaction.
Courtney:Yeah, they fucking almost killed him, yeah. And then they're like what is wrong with you?
Marissa :You're fired.
Courtney:Fired. Ridiculous but for Terry. Mgm gave her and her little trampled paw a rest and at first Terry enjoyed the rest, but apparently she was worried that MGM might also replace her, because she apparently jumped on Mr Carl Spitz's bed and barked until he said I get it, it, you're ready to go back to work. So not even 24 hours after that dink of a winky stepped on her foot. A dink is like a, an insult that jesse's mom, like my mother-in-law, uses. She's like never says anything bad about anyone.
Courtney:And she'll be like he was such a dink dual income no kids, yeah, yeah, I don't think that means that to her she's to her, it's like a dick, but she's like I'll replace the c with an n a dink.
Marissa :A dink, as if your mother-in-law couldn't get more adorable. I know it's so cute.
Courtney:um, after that dink of a winky stepped on her foot, terry was back on set and she arrived. As they were setting up the scene where the cast of characters arrived at the Emerald City, and from across the soundstage Terry could see all her castmates were there, with the addition of a little dog who looked just like her, according to Terry.
Marissa :Well, I just lost it One day, not even, and they replaced me and off, I charge as fast as my little legs can take me, if that fucker thinks she's gonna. If that fucker thinks she's gonna have my part in this picture, she's got another thing coming. Mr Carl chased after me, but I was dog obsessed. I leapt onto that other dog and went right for her throat. The way I saw it, I was justified. She stole my part. Anyway, that usurper didn't put up a fight. One instantly limped under me when I jumped her. I stopped a moment and looked down. Yep, I'd ripped open that throat. But there was just this white fluffy stuff pouring out and everybody was laughing, pouring out, and everybody was laughing and I got it. It's not a real dog, it's a stuffed item. And I laughed along with everybody else and I gave them all a. I knew it wasn't a real dog. Look, I didn't think they were convinced, though.
Courtney:Things went pretty well for Terry, with the exception of the filming of the Kansas scenes. King Vidor had taken over direction at that point, and the first thing they filmed was the twister, which required eight wind machines. Terry hated wind machines because they were scary, and she was just a tiny dog In her words.
Marissa :I was blown away halfway to Sunday and back again and again and again.
Courtney:But luckily the next day of filming was the somewhere over the rainbow scene. Terry had been trained by Mr Carl to sit very still on a piece of cold farm equipment as Judy sang, which Terry did with flying colors, likely because it's kind of a treat to be serenaded by Judy.
Marissa :Garland. Goodness, gracious, yes.
Courtney:And Terry even lifted her little injured paw on cue during the scene. What a pro. Apparently, in the take they used in the movie can see terry glance over at mr carl anticipating her paw lift, which she of course found mortifying.
Marissa :She says you give these movies, you're all, and they select the worst takes. I get it, terry, I it.
Courtney:After a heartwarming wrap party where Judy hugged Terry and cried, and an exciting film premiere, terry was hoping for a vacation, but MGM called again. They had booked Terry on two more films already. Wow, she appeared in one scene of a film called the Women, in which everyone was a female, including the animals. Okay, the film starred human stars like Norma Shearer, joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell and the animals besides. Terry included female monkeys named Stupid, dizzy and Featherbrain, who appeared in dresses in the style of their co-stars.
Marissa :Wow.
Courtney:I have never heard of this movie, but I am so mad at the names of these monkeys. How disrespectful.
Marissa :How rude, disrespectful, how rude, how fucking rude. Rude, I mean truly next came a film called bad little angel, especially because they're supposed to, especially because they're supposed to be the, the women, yeah it's supposed to be like.
Courtney:It feels like this progressive theme for the time. And then they're like. The monkeys are named stupid, dizzy and feather brain. Like. What an ass. I mean honestly, though. Like they they were. She's saying that they were the female monkeys on set. That was probably their real names. Unfortunately, like I don't think, the film named them that oh, so a man named them that it's not the, it's not the women's fault, um.
Courtney:Next came a film called bad little angel, which was all about an orphan girl and her dog, and terry was that dog angel yeah, the film starred virginia weedler as patsy, and terry's character was named rags again just like the character she played alongside shirley temple and bright eyes. I telling you people were so uncreative with dog names back then they were Pal and Rags. Yeah, they were the only names that they could think of, apparently, but at least her character wasn't named Stupid.
Marissa :Oh, my god Poor monkey, poor monkey.
Courtney:But speaking of names, it seems that after the Wizard of Oz, everyone just started calling Terry Toto, so much so that she stopped responding to Terry altogether.
Marissa :Oh, wow, yeah.
Courtney:Carl had to go with the flow and started calling her Toto.
Marissa :She truly embodied the role Mm-hmm. She a true, a true actress.
Courtney:Yes, she's like. I'm Toto forever. I've never left the set of the Wizard of. Oz and the parts kept being tossed Toto's way. She played a dog named McTavish in a Warner McTavish.
Marissa :McTavish, that's a fun name.
Courtney:It is fun In a Warner Brothers film called Calling Philo Vance. Next she was in a United Artists film called Twin Beds with her good friend Maggie, aka the Wicked Witch. Aww, yeah, yay, reunited, reunited. Maggie was playing a maid in the film After an appearance tour for an adoring public with fellow famed pooches, buck and Mr Banky. Toto performed in her last film, easy to Look At.
Marissa :And you know what? Toto is easy to look at. She's real easy to look at, she is.
Courtney:She's a cutie pie, cutie cutie. And then she lived out her days with the Spitz family, where she was absolutely loved and cherished, as Toto says herself at the end of I Toto.
Marissa :I have what most movie stars don't A happy home life. I love my home and the people who care for me, and they do care for me and I for them. And no, it's not just because they feed me, although that's a nice bonus. There are always smiles and food and laughter, and food and petting, and food and petting. As far as I'm concerned, our routine has been perfected and it can go on forever.
Courtney:So fucking cute, you need to like do the audio book version of this book.
Marissa :I swear to God, it's so cute hire me, hire me, I'm available yes, for all of your for all of your toto needs, all of your total needs.
Courtney:toto died towards the end of world war ii and was buried in the backyard of carl spitz's hollywood dog training school. After the school was demolished for construction, toto was given the memorial statue we discussed at the start of this episode in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Willard Carroll, who discovered and published Toto's sweet book, ended, I Toto, with a sweet message that I know you'll love, marissa. Outside of movies, in our real lives, the bond between guardian and pet is a bond that transcends the commonplace. No matter what the complexities of the day, we allow ourselves to reduce a moment or two to a refreshingly simplistic essence I love you, you love me. No conditions, no expectations, but such joy.
Marissa :No expectations, but such joy. I'm crying. I'm crying. What it's so true though. The unconditional love, oh my God. Oh, that's so sweet. Are you kidding me?
Courtney:Oh, you're choking Marisha has the sweetest little dog baby I do.
Marissa :I have two sweet dog babies and all I want to do now is end this and go downstairs and cuddle them.
Courtney:Yes, so, toto or Terry, or whatever you answer to in doggy heaven, we hope we've honored you with this little podcast episode and if you'd like to honor Terry yourself, I would recommend leaving some of her favorite cheddar biscuits at her memorial statue. And you're right, we will include the recipe we have to so yes, some more people leave them yeah um all right. So what did you think?
Marissa :oh my gosh, this was so sweet. What a sweet, sweet episode. I loved it. Yes, I learned well, I guess I don't know a lot about the making of the wizard of oz, um, so that was fun to learn more about that.
Courtney:The allergic reaction thing was crazy yeah, oh my god, yeah, oh my gosh, I know, and then they like lit people on fire and they're like show up to work the next day.
Marissa :Yeah, you're fine.
Courtney:Yeah, jesus well, it's it also like it kind of makes me think about it's just that time period, like I mean talking about everyone was so abused, yeah like talking about unions like um, who was it? Uh, um, the guy that played frankenstein, um is the one who started sag his name was oh, yes, um hold on I've got. I don't know why that isn't on the tip of my tongue.
Marissa :I know why it's not on the tip of mine. I just drank a cannabis drink Cannabis drink.
Courtney:Cannabis.
Marissa :Cannabis. I just drank a cannabis drink. Gosh that last thing made me.
Courtney:Boris Karloff Sorry, go ahead, okay, well say it, it was Boris Karloff.
Marissa :Sorry, go ahead. Okay, well, say say it.
Courtney:It was Boris Karloff is the guy who started SAG. And um, it was because, like, when they were filming Frankenstein, they just basically were like you can work all day and all night and put on all this crazy makeup and then walk around the studio with a fucking bag on your head so that, like no one can see what the makeup looks like, so it's not spoiled like crazy just they were like you're here to be abused, like that's how they thought about it yeah, our cattle, yeah, and you know that's how they treated people.
Marissa :So, um, I mean, it seems like Terry was treated very well because she was much less replaceable than all the people.
Courtney:It's true she really was.
Marissa :Yeah, I mean, they literally had to replace her with a stuffed animal. So, my God, she really did have the fucking life she did. People are like what kind of famous do you want to be? I want to say, I want to be.
Courtney:Toto famous, toto famous.
Marissa :I want to be Toto the dog famous. I want to be able. I want, I want roles given to me. I don't want to have to audition. I want so much respect, the knowledge that I can't ever be replaced. I want to live on a giant ranch with my family, have a happy home life and have a happy home life.
Courtney:And star in 26. No, that was the other dog. 26 films.
Marissa :And yeah and star in, I don't know if it was the other All the films that I can fit in my lifetime. Yeah, pretty much Exactly what a dream she lived. A dream she was, and she loved working. She loved working, I know.
Courtney:It's so cute. She just like loved to do. Well, I feel like that's like a, you know, a dog who can perform is like look at what I can do. And she was just that dog?
Marissa :Yeah, and there are dogs. There are working dogs, you know, there are cattle dogs.
Courtney:There are police dogs.
Marissa :There are fire dogs, for sure, you know search and rescue, and the big thing about it is like they Truly have this like purpose to Do the thing that they're supposed to do, they have, they have this purpose and a lot of ways that a lot of people don't have.
Courtney:So, yeah, depressing. No, I was like god, what on that? No, um, but no, I, I agree and I think that it's. It's. You know, you always have I feel like sadness about when you talk about like, oh, dogs, they have such short lives and like I know, a lot of people feel that way about pets, but I know it's like my, my dog's three and I'm.
Marissa :I think about constantly how I have to somehow live without her at some point. Yeah. I mean it's awful. It's awful.
Courtney:But I feel like it's you do such a good job with your dogs of like making sure they're happy and loved oh yeah, they're spoiled, rotten and I think they're not.
Marissa :As you know, they have the home life of Toto. They don't have God. If they could do literally if they could I tried to do an audition tape with them, like last week, and it was so hard. It was so hard. I didn't get a call back and I think it's their fault. I didn't get a callback and I think it's their fault.
Courtney:I just know that in my childhood we had to do like well, it was like middle school. We had to do Romeo and Juliet, you know, scene of some kind, okay, filmed in a unique way. And so I did Romeo and Juliet with dogs and then just like talked behind the camera while the dog was just like in the camera shot you know, tied to a tree, and my dog was like, so like badly behaved all the time that she was just like whining and be like.
Courtney:She hated it, so that I had to spread peanut butter on the tree trunk to get her to stay in the frame. But then she's just like it's me talking and her licking the tree I need to see this project, my god oh, it's so bad, but so good it's, it's great, there's, it's somewhere, anyway.
Courtney:Anyway, well, thank you so much for joining us. Uh, for this one, everybody, it was a nice warm and fuzzy. Nice warm and fuzzy dead podcast. No, yeah, thank you for joining us for this one, everybody, it was a nice warm and fuzzy. Thank you, nice warm and fuzzy dead podcast.
Marissa :No, yeah, thank you for joining us over the rainbow.
Courtney:Yeah.
Marissa :And that's why you know, that's why it's called. It's called when dogs go to heaven. You lose your pets and they go over the rainbow oh really I didn't know that.
Courtney:Oh man, oh really I didn't know that.
Marissa :Toto actually went over the rainbow. Oh, my goodness. Not going to have this reaction for any other podcast. Any of the humans, if we've piqued your curiosity.
Courtney:Please subscribe on Substack at deadandkindoffamoussubstackcom. We list each episode there, along with photos, newsletters sources and more.
Marissa :You can also find us wherever you get your podcasts. Dead and Kind of Famous is written, researched and produced by Courtney Blomquist. It is co -hosted by Marissa Rivera. We tag team on socials. Jesse Russell and Courtney Blomquist do our editing. Until next time, you might not be famous but you got a story to tell and you're not dead yet.
