Found in a bombed kennel, pup became a Hollywood star

A puppy rescued from a bombed kennel

In 1918, Lee Duncan, a young American soldier from California, discovered a puppy in a kennel destroyed by shelling in France, reports the Riverside Metropolitan Museum. He rescued two puppies and named them Rin Tin Tin and Nanette, after the lucky charm dolls French children gave to American soldiers, according to Voice of America.

Duncan, who spent five years in an orphanage as a child, had a soft spot for animals, author Susan Orlean told NPR. He brought both dogs back to the United States in 1919, but Nanette sadly died of pneumonia soon after. Rin Tin Tin, affectionately nicknamed "Rinty", was never far from his side.

The leap that changed everything

In 1922, at a working dog show at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, a friend of Duncan's who had developed a slow-motion camera filmed the dog clearing an obstacle of nearly 12 feet. He then spent months pitching the footage to Hollywood studios, and his persistence paid off. Rin Tin Tin landed a small role as a sled dog in The Man from Hell's River. Duncan had no idea what was brewing; a few weeks after the show, he simply received a cheque from the Novagraph company for the footage.

From silent star to studio saviour

Bigger roles soon followed. His first major film, Where the North Begins, released in 1923, reportedly made far more than its production budget. Jack Warner, co-founder of Warner Bros., actually credited the dog with saving the studio from bankruptcy on more than one occasion, according to the Riverside Museum. At the height of his fame, Rin Tin Tin was receiving 10,000 fan letters every single month.

For Susan Orlean, he was far more than just a dog performing tricks. He was a genuine actor with an "immensely expressive" face, as seen in the silent movie Clash of the Wolves.

A lasting legacy

When Rin Tin Tin died in 1932, the news was treated like the loss of a Hollywood legend. Regular programming was interrupted by a news bulletin, and a one-hour tribute show was broadcast nationwide. Rumour even had it that he passed away in the arms of actress Jean Harlow, NPR reports.

Duncan kept the name alive. In 1937, he bought a ranch in Riverside, California, named El Rancho Rin Tin Tin, where he bred and trained three more generations of dogs. Rin Tin Tin III even helped him train around 5,000 military dogs for service during the Second World War.

The television series The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin aired on ABC from 1954 to 1959. Duncan passed away the following year, having always maintained that "there will always be a Rin Tin Tin". To this day, breeders in Texas continue his lineage, the Riverside Museum notes.