This listing has
been culled over many years, so some celebrities will currently be
Golden-less. There are also listings that are more historical in nature.
ELIZABETH TAYLOR
ELIZABETH
TAYLOR (one of the great screen actresses
of Hollywood's Golden Age) had a Golden
Retriever named Monty. It was her family's first dog. Check out these
wonderful historical photos.
Holding crackers as a treat, Taylor, age 13, grabs
the attention of her dogs:
Cocker Spaniel Twinkle, Golden Retriever Monty, and
Springer Spaniel Spot.
14-year-old Liz
holding up dog biscuits for her dogs: a Cocker named
Twinkle,
Golden Monty & Spot, the Springer Spaniel. She also
had a chipmunk named Nibbles.
LIVINGSTON TAYLOR
LIVINGSTON TAYLOR (singer, songwriter and also
multi-instrumental musician) has a Golden Retriever named Ajax.
They like mucking out about the pond and going fishing as you can see.
When asked how Ajax got
his name, Liv replied: "We decided on it when were driving to pick him up as a pup. I
liked the name 'Ajax'; it felt good". Elaborating, Maggie says "Liv named him .
. . I agreed . . . . I named him after Achilles' best friend . . . Liv after the
cleanser."
Livingston Taylor started his major-label recording career in 1970. Playing guitar, piano,
and banjo established him as the Taylor family's most ultifaceted musician. Performance is
dear to Livingston's heart, and with his animated personality, wrinkled-grin humor, and
musical talents, the stage is where he shines brightest. Liv has been very busy teaching
performance since 1984 at the Berklee College of Music, the focus of his new Taylor
workshops.
Can I Be Good was written by Livingston Taylor, illustrated by Ted Rand, and
published by Gulliver Books in 1993. Here, a young Golden Retriever tried his
best to be a good dog, but it's just so hard! He just keeps doing things that
get him into trouble, like chewing on Dad's new shoe or splattering his family
and the kitchen when he shakes dry his rain- and mud-sodden fur.
The Taylors have no
children, but Liv has said that the writing of children's books comes very easy to him.
Of course, Ajax
served as the inspiration for this adorable book!
You can clearly see that Livingston's love of Goldens goes way back. He published an album
in 1980, entitled "Man's Best Friend," and another album in 1988, entitled
"Life is Good," includes a Golden friend.
ALAN THICKE
(television entertainer) has a Golden Retriever named Max.
Together they host the show "Miracle Pets" which airs on PAX TV. The show airs
on Monday and Saturday nights at 8pm EST. Alan Thicke hosts this one-hour series featuring
miraculous feats of courage and love performed by our four-legged friends. And, they are
taken from real-life accounts.
MARLO THOMAS
MARLO THOMAS
(actress of the show That Girl) has two Golden Retrievers.
KATHLEEN TOWNSEND
KATHLEEN TOWNSEND (Lieutenant Governor from Maryland) has a Golden
Retriever named Cinnamon.
PAUL TSONGAS
PAUL TSONGAS (U.S. Senator from Massachusetts) has a Golden
Retriever.
TANYA TUCKER
TANYA
TUCKER (country music singer) has a Golden
Retriever named Kona. She also has an adorable Chihuahua and Rhodesian
Ridgeback.
Here is that pup with Tanya and her
8-year-old daughter, Layla. We just adore the love
being shared with this Golden cutie.
PETER VIDMAR
PETER VIDMAR (USA Gold Medal
winner) had a Golden Retriever named Thunder.
JACK WAGNER
JACK WAGNER (actor in the TV series
General Hospital) has a Golden named Elvis,
as well as that of others.
CLAY WALKER
CLAY WALKER (country singer) has a Golden Retriever.
MINETTE WALTERS
MINETTE WALTERS (Britain crime novelist) has a Golden named Benson.
JOSEPH WAMBAUGH
JOSEPH WAMBAUGH (crime fiction author) has a Golden Retriever named Jake. Here is what he had to say in a 1996
interview: "I hang out with my dogs. I have a giant Schnauzer puppy, my other giant
Schnauzer died Feb. 1 and after two months, I decided to heed my wife's advice and get
another it was either that or take my Golden Retriever out and shoot him, because
he was in mourning. He was a rug with feet. The only way you could get him up in the
morning was to say, 'Jake! c'mon! num-nums!' but then he'd be back to bed. He and Fanny
had grown up together. Fanny got lymphoma. I took her for chemotherapy, I did everything,
oh man, the stuff I went through trying to save her . . . And now, with this puppy, Jake
is real grouchy. He's going on seven, and she's four and a half months, and he pretends he
doesn't like her, he grrrrrrowls when she jumps on his face. But his tail gives him
away!"
BRUCE WEBER
BRUCE WEBER
(photographer and writer) has had many Golden Retrievers, one named True
spurring the documentary film, A Letter to True.
This glorious photo here
shows three of Bruce's guys: Palamino, Sky, and Polar Bear.
This film "mixes vintage
cool jazz, memories of celebrated friends, archive home movies and dreamy images
to create an impressionistic autobiographical scrapbook. A haunting metaphor …
for the enduring qualities that represent the best in ourselves and in our
fragile, beautiful world"
Pup psychology .... "A Letter to True," structured
as a series of letters to filmmaker Bruce Weber's golden retriever,
is a meditation on life — especially life with dogs. By
Karinne Keithley, Offoffoff.com
Bruce
Weber's "A Letter to True" is a meandering, affectionate film
structured as a sequence of letters to True, one of Weber's five
Golden Retrievers. Not really about dogs, the film is suffused with
dog-love, and bound by the solid positivity known well to those of
us who come home to these wonderful beasts daily.
Clips from "Lassie" bookend the movie. "It's a
very ... odd feeling ... to be someone's God." Blossom Dearie sings,
"I belong to you, and you belong to me." So Weber feels his bond
with his animals.
War photography, Vietnam, 9-11, Elizabeth Taylor,
Martin Luther King and Little Haiti form part of the compendium of
things drifting through Weber's letters to the pooch, many of them
related to his own photography assignments. Knit together simply by
the fact of being part of Weber's life, the trail is no less
compelling for being without a thematic center. We pass through
pockets of mini-documetaries — about Larry Burrows, who photographed
Vietnam for Life magazine, about Dirk Bogarde's medical life. Martin
Luther King speaks of leaving a committed life behind. A dog appears
here and there: photographed in a soldier's arms, circling around
the feet of Bogarde.
A
LETTER TO TRUE
Written and directed by: Bruce Weber.
Featuring:
Palomino, Big Skye, Rain, True, Polar
Bear, Guy, Cloud, Sailor, Hope, Whizzy, Jake, and
Tyson.
Narrated by: Julie Christie, Marianne Faithfull,
Bruce Weber.
The look and feel is dreamy. June Christy, Blossom Dearie, Billy
Strayhorn and others provide the soundtrack. Glorious underwater
sequences of Goldens frolicking at the beach in Montauk are
colorized and slightly slowed. Add to this an unshakeable loop of
the sounds of visual documents of war; the tone is a weighted love.
A story of one dog's death stands out as a parable of letting grief
drop away into simply being present. The dog lies on its dead
companion for 45 minutes without moving, then joins the others in
the water. One of many points touching on the silent empathy of
animals.
Even though his dogs get acupuncture, even though we have the breed
vs. mutt rift between us, I feel the same profound alteration as
Weber. Life is better with beasts, and time makes simple sense.
This glorious photo here
shows three of Bruce's guys: Palamino, Sky, and Polar Gear. You can see some wonderful Golden photos of Bruce's furkids in the book,
Celebrity Dogs, photograpahy by Kamil Salah, foreword provided by Bruce.
And, check out this funny anecdote from Peter Carlson's February 7, 2007
Washington Post article, "For Liz Taylor's 75th Birthday, Celeb-zine Puts
Frosting on the Cake."
When he first met Taylor,
he was nervous, he says, so he brought along his golden retriever
``as my security blanket.'' When Weber arrived at Taylor's suite in
a swanky New York hotel, the star's legendary publicist, Chen Sam,
greeted him at the door and took a long look at the dog.
``He is so beautiful,'' Sam said. ``If Elizabeth wants him, you'll
have to give him to her. She doesn't like the sound of the word
'no.' '' A few minutes later, Taylor appears and the dog licks her
hand--and her huge diamond ring. She likes that. ``He's so
beautiful!'' she says. ``Can I have him?''
``No, no, Elizabeth,'' Weber says, nearly weeping. ``You can have my
heart but you can't have my dog.''
Bruce worked with Moncler owner, Remo Ruffini and
had custom designed Moncler coats made for his Golden Retrievers. They look
pretty interesting, but can you imagine how much such designer coats will cost?
Bruce Weber for Moncler’s Fall-Winter 2009 Campaign (his Goldens in customized
quilted down dog hoodies)
BETTY WHITE
BETTY WHITE is an
American actress, comedian and former
television host with a career spanning over
sixty-five years. Her television roles
include Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler
Moore Show and Rose Nylund on The Golden
Girls.
She is also a well-known advocate for
animals and president emeritus and trustee of the
Morris Animal Foundation).
Betty White had a Golden
Retriever named Kitta, a former Guide Dog "who had
bum hips", and now has a Golden named Pontiac
[2010].
Here is Betty with Pontiac making a
statement about our most important topic, Canine
Cancer.
Betty wrote [Nov 2001] about how
her Golden boy Kitta helped her recover from hip
surgery. Here is what she had to say:
"As well as we think
we know the pets we live with, they
still manage to surprise us now and
then. It's especially nice when the
surprise turns out to be a pleasant one.
My three animal friends are my family in
every sense of the word, and we are in
total communication at all times.
Self-appointed queen of the group is
Panda, a black and white Shih Tzu, 11
years old, who came from the Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los
Angeles. She had been picked up in a
cruelty case and impounded until the
case came to trial. Panda has earned the
right to be as spoiled as she is. Bob
Cat is a beautiful Himalayan with huge
blue eyes who found me seven years ago
and, like the man who came to dinner,
never left. He has no idea that he is of
the feline persuasion and follows me
everywhere with dog-like devotion.
Unfortunately, his idea of "Sit-Stay" is
on my chest.
Then there is my golden boy, Kitta, a
6-year-old Golden Retriever. He was
puppy-raised in Alaska (kitta means
"forward" in the Inuit language) but
didn't make it into the formal Guide
Dogs for the Blind program because his
hips didn't quite measure up to the
requirements for those hard-working
dogs. Privately, I like to think it was
because we were meant to be together.
Kitta is fine, but a few months ago, I
was the one who needed hip replacement
surgery. As someone who for 30 years has
worked with the Morris Animal Foundation
(an animal health organization that
funds studies into specific health
problems of all animals), I have seen
enough canine X-rays to recognize the
problem area. When my doctor showed me
my pictures, my reaction was, 'I've got
hip dysplasia — can I go to my
veterinarian?"
While hip replacement is something we
would all just as soon skip, they really
have it down to a routine procedure
these days. However, even under optimum
conditions, there is a five-day hospital
stay involved and a few weeks of
slightly limited activity once you get
home. My bedroom was off-limits as I
couldn't go up stairs, so I arranged to
set up headquarters in the playroom —
separate from the house and with no
steps to manage.
The day I came home from the hospital, I
was walking but with the aid of a
walker. I went directly out to the
playroom, got safely ensconced, then had
my furry friends brought out one at a
time for their greeting. First Panda,
then Bob, and finally Kitta — on a leash
so he couldn't get too carried away in
his enthusiasm.
I took the big golden head in my hands
and, nose-to-nose, proceeded to explain
the situation in detail: "Sorry, Kitta
dear, but Mom's going to be real dumb
company for a while . . . ." He sat
motionless as he listened, just swaying
slightly because of his intensely
wagging tail. I unhooked the leash, and
he sank down but within reach of my
hand.
From that moment on, Kitta was on duty.
When I would get up to move around, he
was at my side but didn't move any
faster than I could go with the walker.
His idea, not mine. Later, when I
graduated to a cane, his pace adjusted
but only up to what I could manage, and
his back was within arm's reach at all
times.
The hospital sends a tool home with you
called a "grabber" — a long stick with a
handle that lets you pick up whatever
you drop without bending over. Handy
tool, that is. But I didn't need it. All
I had to say to my golden friend was
"Fetch it up," and whatever it was would
be handed to me. One day, I got myself
into a place in the rose garden where
even with my cane I couldn't get back to
smooth ground. I reached for Kitta's
help, grabbed hold of some loose skin at
his shoulders, and he literally pulled
me back where I belonged.
Most animals are creatures of habit and
don't appreciate change in their
routine. Surprisingly, Panda — and even
Bob — adapted to the altered daily
pattern without complaint, bless them,
but Kitta's reaction was something else.
Remember, this was a dog that had never
been trained to be a caretaker. He had
only gone through puppy socialization,
which simply meant being taken to
various public places and learning to
mind his manners. Where did this
instinctive nursing behavior come from?
I didn't ask questions; I just deeply
appreciated it.
Continuing to improve, I was soon
driving, we all moved back upstairs, and
before long, everything was back to
normal. Another surprise was yet to
come: The day I put the cane away for
good — the very day — my nurturing
helpmate changed back into my regular
fun-loving playmate, and my Kitta was
his old self again, begging for a tennis
ball game without a care in the world.
If possible, however, we are both just a
little closer than before."
In
February 2010 Betty has a new Golden guy named
Pontiac (he's been with her a couple of years). "He's a career-change dog," says White of
her pet who was trained as a guide dog but couldn't
actually work in the field.
"I lost my last fellow when he was 10 years old,
and Guide Dogs for the Blind heard about it.
They called and said they had another golden, so
I went up to their facilities to meet him — and now
he's mine!"
JAMES WHITMORE
JAMES WHITMORE
(actor in the movies Black Like Me, Battleground and
Give 'em Hell, Harry) has a Golden Retriever.
JERRY WIGGINS
JERRY WIGGINS
(psychologist and creator of the Interpersonal
Adjective Personality Test) has a Golden Retriever.
JASON WILLIAMS
JASON WILLIAMS (basketball guard of the Sacramento Kings; stars of Nike
commercial with Randy Moss) has a Golden named Sweet
Pea after New York playground legend Lloyd ''Sweet
Pea'' Daniels.
SHEREE J. WILSON
SHEREE J. WILSON
(actress) has two Goldens named Ilsa & Zooey.
OPRAH WINFREY
OPRAH WINFREY (TV host) has
three Golden Retrievers. Their names are Luke, Layla
and Gracie. Amazingly, Oprah got all three pups at
the same time!
At Oprah's house, dinner does not begin until her
Goldens show her their table manners!
"We're not allowed to come running into the room
until we sit and we ask for it," Oprah says.
When it is time for their dinner, which is
typically rice, carrots and beef, all three must
follow a sit command. Then they are told to "wait,"
so remaining seated.
"Sitting down is like saying, 'Please, may I
eat?'" Oprah says. Finally, all three Golden kids
find their own bowls (we guess they read their names
on the 3 respective bowls lol) and eat away. Oprah
has the problem with her furkids that many of us do
as well, that of their jumping up on folks when they
come to visit.
Click here to watch a video of Oprah
learning the steps to changing this behavior.
DAVID WOLPER
DAVID WOLPER
(movie and TV producer, TV mini-series Roots) has a Golden named
Sunshine.
RENEE ZELLWEGER
RENEE ZELLWEGER (Actress, recently
of movie Bridget Jones’s Diary) had a Golden
Retriever/Collie mix named Dylan. It’s a clear case
of love me, love my dog. Friends call her the ‘dog
woman’ because of Dylan.
“We grew up together,” says the actress who first
fell in love with Dylan at the Austin Animal Shelter
when she emerged from an adorable litter of puppies
and rested her nuzzle on Renee’s foot. “I looked
down at her and of course she was the most gorgeous
creature of all time,” she says.