Toto the dog: the true story behind the Wizard of Oz's terrier

Part 1

Who played Toto in the 1939 film

The dog who played Toto on screen was not named Toto at first. She was a female Cairn Terrier named Terry, born on November 17, 1933. Her owner and trainer was Carl Spitz, who ran the Hollywood Dog Training School. Terry had come to Spitz as a puppy whose owners never returned for her after she stayed with him to be housebroken.

Terry earned $125 a week for her work on The Wizard of Oz. That was more than some of the human actors who played Munchkins, who were paid $50 a week. It was also more than the average working American's wage at the time. If you have ever wondered how far patient training can take a dog, Terry's career is a useful answer.

Part 2

Toto in L. Frank Baum's original books

Toto first appeared in L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In the story, Dorothy and Toto are swept from a Kansas farm to the Land of Oz by a cyclone. Baum described Toto as a little black dog with small, twinkling eyes. He never named a specific breed for the character. The book's illustrator, W. W. Denslow, drew Toto as a small black terrier.

Because Baum left the breed unnamed, people still debate whether he pictured a Cairn Terrier or a Yorkshire Terrier. The studio making the 1939 film cast a Cairn Terrier in the role. If your own dog does not match a single breed description, Toto's book origins show that was never the point.

Part 3

Terry's life off screen

Terry had already appeared in two films before she was cast as Toto. Her first film role came in Ready for Love in 1934, followed soon after by Bright Eyes with Shirley Temple. She went on to appear in more than twenty films over her career. During filming of The Wizard of Oz, an actor playing one of the Wicked Witch's Winkie guards accidentally stepped on her paw and sprained it. She spent two weeks recovering at Judy Garland's home. Garland grew attached to Terry and offered to buy her from Spitz, but he refused to sell.

After Oz, Terry appeared in Tortilla Flat in 1942, reuniting with director Victor Fleming and actor Frank Morgan, who had played the Wizard. Her final film role came in Easy to Look At, released shortly before her death. Terry died on September 1, 1945, at age eleven. She was buried on Spitz's ranch in Studio City, but the site was destroyed in 1958 during construction of the Ventura Freeway.

Part 4

Why Toto became a cultural icon

In one informal poll asking people to name the most popular or influential dog movie stars, Toto ranked third, behind Lassie and Rin Tin Tin. One analysis of the film found that Toto appears in more scenes than Judy Garland's Dorothy. Because the story is set in Kansas, a group in Wichita pushed to make the Cairn Terrier the state's official dog. Thanks to the film's popularity, Spitz officially renamed Terry as Toto in 1942.

Part 5

Toto's legacy today

Terry's original grave was lost when the Ventura Freeway was built in 1958. In June 2011, a memorial to her was dedicated at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. A book, I, Toto: The Autobiography of Terry, The Dog Who Was Toto, later told her story in the dog's own voice. Cairn Terriers trace back to the Scottish Highlands and the Isle of Skye, where they worked from as early as the 1600s clearing vermin from piles of stones called cairns. The American Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1913. If you share your life with a Cairn Terrier, you are keeping company with a breed that goes back to the Scottish Highlands.