TOMMY RETTIG ("LASSIE")/BOBBY DIAMOND ("FURY") ON "THE LATE SHOW" WITH ROSS SHAFER, 7/4/88

"The Late Show" with Ross Shafer, 7/4/88 - A sweet and poignant TV moment for us Baby Boomers. One of the rare appearances by both Tommy (Tom) Rettig of "Lassie"/"Jeff's Collie" fame, and his childhood pal, Bobby Diamond from "Fury". (Ross arranged for Bobby to make a surprise visit and reunite them both). ***(I've uploaded the entire episode of "The Child", a clip of which is shown here at 3:23), in addition to about 26 additional episodes of "Jeff's Collie"!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Late
• Show
• Ross
• Shafer
• Tom
• Tommy
• Rettig
• Bobby
• Diamond
• Lassie
• Jeff's
• Collie
• Fury
• childhood
• actor
• reminisce
• memories
• reunion
• career
• stunts
• computer
• author
• book
• programmer
• software
• lawyer
• attorney
• lawschool

[RockyMissouri]

Well, I can say I'm in THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH RIGHT NOW! I loved all of theses guys...I have a beautiful old dressing table, and on the wall above it-hanging very elegantly- is my horses' saddle..her bridle is hanging on the horn....His name was Flicka (even though he was a gelding!) But my very FAVORITE OF ALL, WAS TOMMY RETTIG!

I just adored him!

[chalomirof63]

@RockyMissouri  Happy you found the clip - thanks.

[emstbldg11]

Thank you for posting this. It was great to see Tommy all grown up. I loved him on Lassie and still watch the reruns on RTV. Jan Clayton and George Cleveland were outstanding, too.

[chalomirof63]

@emstbldg11 You're very welcome; btw, did you see that I have about 27 episodes posted? (Just look up "Jeff's Collie"). :)

[emstbldg11]

@chalomirof63 Oh, yes, I stayed up late into the night watching many of them. I love them all. In the interview, Tommy said it was just "hit your marks and say the line," but I thought he was a wonderful actor, as they all were. So bad words, no laugh track, just real life situations and believable characters. And, of course, Lassie.

[chalomirof63]

@emstbldg11 You hit the nail on the head; it sure was more than "hit your marks....", and I totally agree. And I should have known you'd find the uploads, LOL. Glad you're enjoying them. :) F.

[Yesteryear1968]

Wow.... What great memories this clip has brought back. My grandparents lived next door and I usually always watched Lassie with them. I loved the show with the Miller family and I remember how sad I was when Gramps passed away. Lassie was a great show to grow up with. Fury was also my favorite Saturday morning show along with Sky King and Mighty Mouse. Wonderful clip...thanks for posting.

[gymnastix]

@skylur44 "Never Too Young" also reunited Rettig with his "Lassie" mom, Jan Clayton, who had a role in the series.

The show was cancelled less than a year later. But its replacement was a much bigger hit with younger viewers, TV's first gothic-horror soap, "Dark Shadows," which introduced the most famous vampire since "Count Dracula," one "Barnabas Collins" (played by stage actor Jonathan Frid).

[gymnastix]

@skylur44 That alphabet networks's soap also starred Tony Dow, formerly "Wally Cleaver" on the sitcom "Leave It To Beaver." Centered around a beach hangout, the series featured guest appearances by popular musicians of the period, performing their hits on the program.

[gymnastix]

@skylur44 Rettig's acting roles in the years after "Lassie" were limited to television work, including a regular role on the ABC-TV daytime drama "Never Too Young," a series aimed at teens that was sort of a "Beverly Hills 90210" of its era.

[gymnastix]

@skylur44 I find Rettig's inability to obtain acting roles later in life, supposedly on account of his shorter stature, somewhat puzzling; first, because Rettig was an outstanding actor, and also because many actors have been and are, in fact, shorter of stature, including some very successful ones, such as Tom Cruise, Matthew Broderick, Michael J. Fox, Mickey Rooney, and James Cagney.

[gymnastix]

@skylur44 Part of Rettig's downfall, as a young man in the years not long after his success with "Lassie," I have read, stemmed from his having had difficulty gaining acting roles because of his diminutive stature, an asset as a young boy, but not, apparently, when a young man.

[gymnastix]

@skylur44 Well, not quite.

Tommy Rettig did have a cocaine abuse problem several years before he appeared in the television program from which this clip is taken. He was also arrested, at one point, in connection with that problem.

But Rettig overcame his substance abuse prpblem, and went on to have a very successful career in computer software programming, authoring a prominent program called FoxPro that made him well-known among computer programmers.

[brockpierce1984]

Great to see Tommy Rettig here as a grown up and well after his drug and alcohol collapses. Just a pity that he died so young only 8 years after that show was taped.

[RockyMissouri]

@Chalomirof63....No....THANK YOU..!

[RockyMissouri]

In addition to lots of things, I also liked John Denvers' music....all of the episodes of Circus Boy (with Micky Dolenz & his bleached hair-Rin-Tin-Tin- Fury- My Friend Flicka...Ozzie & Harriet, One Step Beyond..

People are still the same...human nature is still the same...it only looks better, cause we're here in the present....