London(I)
- Actor
The owner/trainer of London, Charles P. Eisenmann, started as a baseball player. During his off season in 1946, while operating a nightclub in Los Angeles, he got his first German Shepherd. He named this dog London, named after the capital city of England where Chuck served during the War. London accompanied Chuck to ball parks and he would do tricks, like bringing the ball to him, running the bases, and many other tricks. Over time, Chuck had London doing more and more elaborate tricks. But at the age of 34, Chuck was released from baseball. Before that happened, news of the dog's antics on the ball fields caught the attention of the public. LIFE magazine printed a three page story about London. This was when London became a star and Chuck saw this. Chuck started breeding German Shepherds and training them. At first, there were small parts in movies and then a big break came when London was the star of a feature film. The movie was The Littlest Hobo (1958). This made way for other parts in movies and appearances on television talk shows. Over the years, there has been more than one dog playing London. Just like Lassie or Rin Tin Tin, there have been many dogs that have played the part. A few of the German Shepherd performers that played London, were Venus, Raura, Toro and Bo. But in credits or in print, they were called London. The exact lifespan of each individual canine is unknown. London is known for The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955), The Littlest Hobo (1958), Silent Friends (1969), and My Dog Buddy (1960). Two Canadian television series were produced featuring London as the Littlest Hobo, both based on the 1958 American film of the same name. The Littlest Hobo (1963) Le Vagabond (1979). By 2010, Eisenmann had only one dog, Raura. Eisenmann passed away in 2010 and that ended the legacy of London. There have been rumors of a television series that would feature new adventures of The Littlest Hobo.
