It aired as Rin Tin Tin, K-9 Cop in the United States and Rin Tin Tin Junior in France. The owner of the original dog actor (1918-32) never trademarked his name, so his descendants continue to appear at animal events, and unrelated dogs have appeared in radio programs, movies, and two tv shows. The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (1954-59), starred Lee Aaker as a 19th century orphan being raised by the U.S. Calvary at Fort Apache. It was trying unsuccessfully to compete with Lassie (1954-73), with the female collie owned by several boys, including Jon Provost (left, during his hippie years). But most people remember Tommy Rettig, whose tv mom June Lockhart moved on to become the mom on the original Lost in Space.
By the 1980s, Rin Tin Tin was a distant memory. His connection to the Katts and Dog dog, called Rudy or Rinty, is only mentioned once.
The premise: Hank Katts (Jesse Collins) and his dog Rudy/Rinty go to work together in the K-9 division, where they rescue kidnapped boys and heiresses, keep drugs out of school, are held hostage, shoot suspects, and so on in adventures that are not always kid-friendly. He begins dating widowed mother Maggie and mentoring her son, s Officer Hank Katts, who worked with a German shepherd named Rudy or Rinty (Rudolph Von Holstein III). He lived with Maggie, the widow of his late brother, and her son, slim blond Stevie (12-year old Andrew Bednarski).
Homophobic televangelist Pat Robertson, whose Christian Broadcasting Network provided most of the funding for the show, disapproved of an unrelated man and woman living in the same house, so Maggie was killed, and Hank adopted Stevie. His job was to ignore orders like "stay here where it's safe," snoop around on his own, get captured by the bad guys, and require a nick of time rescue.
More after the break
Not only close-ups of his face; Steve's increasingly buffed chest, arms, shoulders, and below-the-belt were subjected to detailed scrutiny. There were no shirtless or semi-nude shots, but gay teens had almost as much to look at as in the old Bomba the Jungle boy movies.
Pat Robertson disapproved of this, too, so they gave Hank and Steve some girl-crazy plotlines. Not good enough: the show was canned after five seasons.
After Katts, Jesse Collins moved into voiceover work, mostly in local tv ads. He has acted in or directed about fifty plays, and served as artistic director at the Orillia Opera House. According to his personal website, he is a "professional chancer" and "lifelong dilentante." He has "a partner I love and admire" and "a son I'm so proud of." Nowhere on his blog does he specify the gender of the partner.
Andrew Bednarski received his Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Cambridge, and spent five years as assistant director of the American Research Center in Cairo, where he published A History of World Egyptology. He is currently the Director of National Development for Case Western Reserve University. No marital information online.
