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On December 10, 1941, Tommy Rettig was born.
Fri Dec 10, 2021: On this day, December 10, 1941, Tommy Rettig was born.
Tommy Rettig
Rettig in Death Valley Days in 1962
Born: Thomas Noel Rettig; December 10, 1941; Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, USA
Died: February 15, 1996 (aged 54); Marina del Rey, California, USA
Thomas Noel Rettig (December 10, 1941 – February 15, 1996) was an American child actor, computer software engineer, and author. He is remembered for portraying the character "Jeff Miller" in the first three seasons of CBS's Lassie television series, from 1954 to 1957, later seen in syndicated re-runs with the title Jeff's Collie. He also co-starred with another former child actor, Tony Dow, in the mid-1960s television teen soap opera Never Too Young and recorded the song by that title with the group, The TR-4.
{snip}
Early life and acting career
Rettig was born to a Jewish father, Elias Rettig, and a Christian Italian–American mother, Rosemary Nibali, in Jackson Heights in the Queens borough of New York City. He started his career at the age of six, on tour with Mary Martin in the play Annie Get Your Gun, which he played Little Jake.
Rettig (left) as Jeff Miller with Donald Keeler as Porky in Lassie (1956)
Rettig was selected from among 500 boys for the role of Jeff Miller, to star in the first Lassie television series, between 1954 and 1957. His character was a young farm boy who lived with his widowed mother, Ellen (Jan Clayton), grandfather (George Cleveland), and his beloved collie, Lassie.
{snip}
Post-acting career
As an adult, Rettig preferred to be called "Tom". He found the transition from child star to adult to be difficult, and he had several well-publicized legal entanglements relating to illegal recreational drugs, a conviction for growing marijuana on his farm in 1972, and a cocaine possession charge in 1976, of which he was exonerated. Some years after he left acting, he became a motivational speaker, which — through work on computer mailing lists — led to involvement in the early days of personal computers.
For the last 15 years of his life, Rettig was a well-known database programmer and author. He was an early employee of Ashton-Tate and specialized in (sequentially) dBASE, Clipper, FoxBASE and finally, FoxPro. Rettig moved to Marina del Rey, California, in the late 1980s.
Later years and death
Rettig made a guest appearance as a grown-up Jeff Miller in an episode of the television series The New Lassie with Jon Provost, that aired on October 25, 1991. The updated series featured appearances from Lassie veterans Roddy McDowall, who had starred in Lassie Come Home in 1943, the first feature-length Lassie film, and June Lockhart, who had starred in the 1945 sequel film Son of Lassie. She had also co-starred on the television series, portraying Timmy's mother in the years after Rettig and Jan Clayton left the show.
On February 15, 1996, Rettig died of heart failure at age 54. He was cremated through Inglewood Park mortuary, and his ashes were scattered at sea, three miles off Marina del Rey, California, with the ashes of his friend Rusty Hamer in a combined burial ceremony.
{snip}
Rettig in Death Valley Days in 1962
Born: Thomas Noel Rettig; December 10, 1941; Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, USA
Died: February 15, 1996 (aged 54); Marina del Rey, California, USA
Thomas Noel Rettig (December 10, 1941 – February 15, 1996) was an American child actor, computer software engineer, and author. He is remembered for portraying the character "Jeff Miller" in the first three seasons of CBS's Lassie television series, from 1954 to 1957, later seen in syndicated re-runs with the title Jeff's Collie. He also co-starred with another former child actor, Tony Dow, in the mid-1960s television teen soap opera Never Too Young and recorded the song by that title with the group, The TR-4.
{snip}
Early life and acting career
Rettig was born to a Jewish father, Elias Rettig, and a Christian Italian–American mother, Rosemary Nibali, in Jackson Heights in the Queens borough of New York City. He started his career at the age of six, on tour with Mary Martin in the play Annie Get Your Gun, which he played Little Jake.
Rettig (left) as Jeff Miller with Donald Keeler as Porky in Lassie (1956)
Rettig was selected from among 500 boys for the role of Jeff Miller, to star in the first Lassie television series, between 1954 and 1957. His character was a young farm boy who lived with his widowed mother, Ellen (Jan Clayton), grandfather (George Cleveland), and his beloved collie, Lassie.
{snip}
Post-acting career
As an adult, Rettig preferred to be called "Tom". He found the transition from child star to adult to be difficult, and he had several well-publicized legal entanglements relating to illegal recreational drugs, a conviction for growing marijuana on his farm in 1972, and a cocaine possession charge in 1976, of which he was exonerated. Some years after he left acting, he became a motivational speaker, which — through work on computer mailing lists — led to involvement in the early days of personal computers.
For the last 15 years of his life, Rettig was a well-known database programmer and author. He was an early employee of Ashton-Tate and specialized in (sequentially) dBASE, Clipper, FoxBASE and finally, FoxPro. Rettig moved to Marina del Rey, California, in the late 1980s.
Later years and death
Rettig made a guest appearance as a grown-up Jeff Miller in an episode of the television series The New Lassie with Jon Provost, that aired on October 25, 1991. The updated series featured appearances from Lassie veterans Roddy McDowall, who had starred in Lassie Come Home in 1943, the first feature-length Lassie film, and June Lockhart, who had starred in the 1945 sequel film Son of Lassie. She had also co-starred on the television series, portraying Timmy's mother in the years after Rettig and Jan Clayton left the show.
On February 15, 1996, Rettig died of heart failure at age 54. He was cremated through Inglewood Park mortuary, and his ashes were scattered at sea, three miles off Marina del Rey, California, with the ashes of his friend Rusty Hamer in a combined burial ceremony.
{snip}