Frank Inn
| Frank Inn | |
|---|---|
Frank Inn and Benji in the Netherlands in 1979
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| Born |
Elias Franklin Freeman May 8, 1916 Camby, Marion County, Indiana, United States |
| Died | July 27, 2002 (aged 86) Saugus, California, United States |
| Occupation | Animal trainer |
| Spouse(s) | Juanita Heard |
| Children | 3 |
Frank Inn was born as Elias Franklin Freeman, (May 8, 1916 – July 27, 2002) was an American animal trainer. He trained several animals for movies, but was most known for his work with the dogs in the Benji series.
Elias Franklin Freeman was born in Camby, Indiana, to a Quaker family. He left home at age 17, changed his name to Frank Inn, and sought his fortune in Hollywood. He learned to train animals while recovering from a serious automobile accident in Culver City, California.
Inn was married to the former Juanita Heard for 50 years, from 1946 until her death in 1996. They had three children. After Juanita's death, Inn retired and devoted his time to writing poetry, assembling a museum of memorabilia from his long career, and training a new generation of animal wranglers.
He died at age 86 after a brief illness. He kept the ashes of many of his beloved animals after they had died, and it was his wish to have these buried with him. He had a special coffin made to accommodate the animal urns. Unable to be interred with him, the animal ashes remain with his daughters.
Inn's career as an animal trainer spanned more than 50 years. His first professional work was as an assistant trainer of Skippy, the dog who played Asta in the Thin Man movie series.
In 1943, he assisted Rudd Weatherwax in the training of Pal, the dog who originated the movie role of Lassie.
In the early 1950s, Inn left the Weatherwax animal training organization and began to work as an independent trainer. His animal stars included Orangey, a cat who was in the films Rhubarb (1952), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and appeared in the television series Our Miss Brooks with Eve Arden; Cleo, a basset hound who was in the film Bell, Book and Candle (1957) and in Jackie Cooper's 1950s television show, The People's Choice; Arnold Ziffel, the pig from Green Acres; the chimps from Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp, the dog and two cats from The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, Tramp the dog of My Three Sons and many of Elly May Clampett's exotic "critters" on The Beverly Hillbillies.
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