Who’s Still Alive From ‘Lassie’?

Has there ever been a better friend than Lassie, the canine title star of long-running TV series? While the cast of Lassie changed several times over the show’s 1954-1973 run, it remains one of the most beloved shows, especially for dog lovers. Lassie wasn’t just a story about a heroic dog who constantly saved her owner from danger, however; the character was based on a real dog in World War II, who inspired a short story, a novel, movies, a radio series, and finally, the television show.

The original version of the series followed a farmer named Ellen Miller (Jan Clayton), her son Jeff Miller (Tommy Rettig) and her elderly father-in-law, George “Gramps” Miller (George Cleveland). When the stars wanted to leave the show in 1957, Jon Provost was cast as Timmy, while Cloris Leachman and Jon Shepodd were cast as his foster parents. However, most fans remember when June Lockhart and Hugh Reilly replaced Leachman and Shepodd as Timmy’s foster parents. With so many casting changes and so many years gone by, it begs the question: who is still alive from Lassie and what are they up to?