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Jean, also known as the Vitagraph Dog (190? – 1916), was a female Border Collie that performed leading roles in early silent films. She was the first canine star in the United States having been preceded by the first, Blair, Cecil Hepworth's dog, in England. She however was the first canine to have her name in the title of her films. She was a precursor to other famous U.S. dog actors like Teddy, the Sennett Dog, Pete the Pup, Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin.〔(''Blair, the First Canine Movie Actor'', Saluting Our Animal Actors, Saturday March 13, 2010 )〕 〔(''Jean the Vitagraph Dog: Silent Actor Dog''; Famous Pets website, c.2011 )〕 ==Life and career== Around 1908, Maine resident and writer Laurence Trimble sold an animal story to a New York magazine. It paved the way for him to visit Vitagraph Studios with his dog, Jean, to do a story on film making. Trimble and his pet just happened to be on the set at a time when the company needed a dog to play a scene opposite Florence Turner. As a result, dog and master were asked to stay and both became members of the Vitagraph stock company. "Jean was equal in popularity to Vitagraph's human stars, Florence Turner and Maurice Costello," wrote film historian Anthony Slide.〔 Jean was soon known as the Vitagraph Dog, starring in her own films, all directed by Trimble. One-reelers and two-reelers with titles such as ''Jean and the Calico Doll'', ''Jean and the Waif'' and ''Jean Goes Fishing'' were made by Trimble as their troupe filmed along the coastline in his native Maine. Trimble became a leading director at Vitagraph, directing most of the films made by Turner and John Bunny, as well as those made by Jean.〔 Actress Helen Hayes recalled in a 1931 interview with ''The New York Times'' that as an eight-year-old she had roles in two of the 1910 films. "I had long curls and they let me play the juvenile lead in two pictures in support of Jean, the collie," Hayes said. "Jean was the most famous dog of the day and I was very thrilled." In December 1912, Jean gave birth to six puppies〔 — two male and four female — and was the subject of the Vitagraph documentary short film, ''Jean and Her Family'' (1913). In March 1913, Trimble and Jean left Vitagraph and accompanied Florence Turner to England, where she formed her own company, Turner Films.〔 In August 1915, Trimble and his canine star returned to the United States. In 1916, Jean died.〔 Trimble tried to launch the career of a successor, Shep the Vitagraph Dog, without success.〔 He then discovered and worked with another dog star, the famed Strongheart. Trimble eventually retired from filmmaking and trained animals exclusively.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jean (dog)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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