Tommy Rettig
Biography
Tommy Rettig was an American child actor who began performing at six, touring with Mary Martin in the musical Annie Get Your Gun as Little Jake. He was chosen from among 500 boys to play Jeff Miller, the first dog owner in the CBS series Lassie, starring in its first three seasons from 1954 to 1957; the show was later syndicated as Jeff's Collie. Among his feature films were The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953) and River of No Return (1954), with Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum. He later guest-starred in television series including Wagon Train and Peter Gunn, and from 1965 to 1966 he co-starred with Tony Dow in the teen soap opera Never Too Young, for which he co-wrote and recorded the title song with The TR-4. In later years he became a database programmer and author, working early at Ashton-Tate. He died in 1996.
54years old at death
- Born Queens
- Died Marina del Rey
- Star sign: SagittariusThe sign runs November 22 to December 21
- Also credited as Thomas Noel Rettig
Movie Career
- Films
- 9
- Career span
- 6 years1950 to 1956
Share
Did you know?!
Big break
Rettig was picked for the role of Jeff Miller, the first dog owner in the Lassie television series, from a field of 500 boys who auditioned.
First role
At six years old, Rettig launched his acting career by touring with Mary Martin in Annie Get Your Gun, where he took the role of Little Jake.
Big break
Rettig's work with a dog in The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. prompted animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax, who supplied the collie, to push him to try out for Lassie.
A change of course
After acting, Rettig spent the last 15 years of his life as a database programmer and author, an early employee of Ashton-Tate.
Beyond film
Rettig co-starred with Tony Dow in the ABC teen soap opera Never Too Young from 1965 to 1966. He recorded the song of that title with The TR-4 and co-managed the group without singing in it.
Tommy Rettig movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
- The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.1953 Family, Fantasy, Musicas Bartholomew Collins
IMDb rating 6.74.9K votes
Most often with
Five actors appear in two of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Richard Widmark's page
John Qualen's page
Douglas Spencer's page
Carl Benton Reid's page
Kim Charney's page
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.