Orangey
Orangey with Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) | |
| Other names |
|
|---|---|
| Species | Felis catus |
| Born | United States |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Notable role |
|
| Years active | 1950s–1960s |
| Owner | Frank Inn |
| Awards | PATSY Award (1951, 1961) |
Orangey was a name used by multiple male, red domestic shorthair tabby cats[1] which served as animal actors in motion pictures.[2][3] While portrayed as a single cat in early studio publicity and news accounts, the cats' owner and trainer Frank Inn has stated that the original Orangey died prior to his first role and was actually multiple cats.[4]
Career
Orangey, publicized as a single cat with multiple stand-ins, had a career in film and television in the 1950s and early 1960s. He is the only cat to win two PATSY Awards, the first for the title role in Rhubarb (1951) and the second for his role in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).[5] The cat was also credited as "Jimmy", "Jeremy", and "Rhubarb".[6]
A 1951 article in the San Francisco Chronicle stated that Orangey was found after he wandered into the Sherman Oaks, California home of a homemaker named Agnes Murray in 1948. Murray fed him and nursed his bad leg back to health. After reading that the producers of Rhubarb were seeking a "Jimmy Cagney kind of cat", Murray phoned the studio and set up an interview. Orangey was selected out of 5000 cats.[7]
According to an Associated Press article in 1951, Frank Inn called cats harder to handle than coyotes. The article refers to Orangey as "Orangey Murray". Inn said: "At least you can train a coyote to do tricks and he'll do them. You can never tell about cats." Inn said that cats do not respond to a trainer's voice or hand gestures, and that the only way to get them to do things was by repetition. Inn said that Orangey had a dozen stand-ins, and that he received the finest food and veterinary attention every other day. He said that animal welfare officers supervised the sets to check on working conditions and had vetoed cat-dog fights.[8]
According to Sam Wasson, author of 5th Avenue, 5AM: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman, Inn said Orangey was "a real New York type cat, just what we want. In no time at all I'm going to make a method, or Lee Strasberg type, cat out of him".[5] Often scratching and biting actors, Orangey was called "the world's meanest cat" by one studio executive, but he was prized for his ability to stay for several hours. He would sometimes flee after filming scenes, and production would be shut down until he could be found. Inn would sometimes have to post guard dogs at the studio entrance to keep him from running away.[3]
In a 2001 interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Inn stated that the early publicity on Orangey was encouraged by the studio, which liked the "beautiful" origin story, but that the original Orangey died prior to the making of Rhubarb. In the film, the cat character was portrayed by multiple orange cats. Inn stated that he purchased Orangey from the original owners for $25.[4]
For Breakfast at Tiffany's, Orangey won the 1962 PATSY Award for his portrayal of "the poor slob without a name". He was also credited as the cat Mouschi in the film adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).[1] The cat was credited as the family pet, "Butch", in the film The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).
On television, Orangey played a regular role as "Minerva" on the series Our Miss Brooks (1952–1958). On The Dick Van Dyke Show he portrayed Sally's cat, Mr. Henderson, in "Where you been, Fassbinder?" on March 14, 1962.[9][10][11] On the sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, Orangey played Rusty in the 1963 episode "Elly's Animals"[12] and was uncredited as Matilda Cat in "The Cat Burglar" in 1966.[13][14]
Sofia Bohdanowicz's 2020 short documentary film, The Hardest Working Cat in Show Biz is based on Dan Sallitt's essay of the same name, and explores Orangey's history, mythology, and rumors that the name "Orangey" was ascribed to several different cats as opposed to one single cat.[15][16]
Filmography
| Title | Year | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhubarb | 1951 | Rhubarb | Uncredited, one of 14 cats in the role | |
| This Island Earth | 1955 | Neutron | Uncredited | |
| The Incredible Shrinking Man | 1957 | Butch | Uncredited | |
| The Matchmaker | 1958 | Himself - a Cat | Credited as Rhubarb | |
| The Diary of Anne Frank | 1959 | Mouschi | Uncredited | |
| Visit to a Small Planet | 1960 | Clementine | Uncredited | |
| Breakfast at Tiffany's | 1961 | Cat | Frank Inn also credited | |
| Gigot | 1962 | Uncredited | ||
| The Comedy of Terrors | 1963 | Cleopatra | Credited as Rhubarb | |
| Village of the Giants | 1965 | Giant Cat | Uncredited |
- Television
- Gilligan's Island Cat
- Our Miss Brooks (1952–1958) as Minerva (uncredited)
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (January 22, 1956) (Season 1 Episode 17: "The Older Sister") as Cat (uncredited)
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (December 22, 1957) (Season 3 Episode 12: "Miss Paisley's Cat") as Stanley the cat (uncredited)
- Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958) as The Cat
- The Dick Van Dyke Show (1962) as Mr. Henderson
- The Beverly Hillbillies (1963) as Rusty, Cat
- The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis Cat (Season 2 episode 10 Jingle Bells)
- My Favorite Martian (1963–1964) as Herbie, Max the Cat, Cat on Footpath
- Mission Impossible ("The Seal", 1967) as IMF agent Rusty the cat (uncredited)
- Batman (1967–1968) as Cat
- Documentary
- Audrey Hepburn Remembered (1993) as Cat
Awards
| Year | Nominated work | Category | Awards | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Rhubarb | Picture Animal Top Star of the Year | PATSY Award | Won |
| 1962 | Breakfast at Tiffany's | Picture Animal Top Star of the Year | PATSY Award | Won |
See also
References
- ^ a b Bass, Iris (2011). Cat Lover's Daily Companion. Quarry Books. p. 250. ISBN 978-1592537495.
- ^ "Anna Jane Grossman: Training a Cat Actor for Broadway? Better Understand the Peculiar World of Feline Motivation". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
- ^ a b Powe Allred, Alexandra (2005). Cat's Most Wanted. Washington D.C.: Potomac Books. p. 172. ISBN 1612342930.
- ^ a b "Frank Inn | Television Academy Interviews". interviews.televisionacademy.com. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
- ^ a b Deczynski, Rebecca (25 March 2015). "6 Cats Who Made a Mark on the Silver Screen". Mental Floss. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ^ Billson, Anne (January 25, 2014). "Cats improve every film they are in". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 27, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
- ^ "The Rhubarb Over Rhubarb". San Francisco Chronicle. 25 March 1951. p. 66. Retrieved 6 January 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Cat Actors Learn Slowly". Tulare Advance-Register. Associated Press. 3 March 1951. p. 2. Retrieved 5 January 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ KJ Ricardo (2020-08-08). "DICK VAN DYKE SHOW" - Guest Star Spotlight: Orangey the Cat (Sally's Cat, Mr. Henderson)!!!. Retrieved 2025-03-15 – via YouTube.
- ^ "The Dick Van Dyke Show" Where You Been, Fassbinder? (TV Episode 1962) - Orangey as Mr. Henderson - IMDb. Retrieved 2025-03-15 – via m.imdb.com.
- ^ Kay, Linda (2015-09-08). "The Dick Van Dyke Show – "Where You Been, Fassbinder?"". Cinema Cats. Retrieved 2025-03-15.
- ^ Whorf, Richard (1963-01-30), "Elly's Animals", The Beverly Hillbillies, Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, retrieved 2025-03-15
- ^ Depew, Joseph (1966-01-26), "The Cat Burglar", The Beverly Hillbillies, Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, retrieved 2025-03-15
- ^ "The Cat Burglar (1966)". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-03-15.
- ^ Sallitt, Dan (23 April 2020). "The Hardest Working Cat in Show Biz". Filmmaker Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-11-26. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
- ^ Rizov, Vadim (27 April 2020). "Online Premiere: Sofia Bohdanowicz's The Hardest Working Cat in Showbiz". Filmmaker Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
External links
- "The Art of Cat Acting" on YouTube
- Orangey at AlloCiné (in French)
- Orangey at IMDb