By Eric Kohanik
Many celebrities have horses, usually kept in a stable. But cowboy star Roy Rogers blazed happy trails with his horse, Trigger, who actually had the run of the Rogers home. After the palomino died in 1965, Rogers had Trigger’s hide preserved and mounted on a plaster form. And, in the 1980s, during a Television Critics Association press conference for a show he and Dale Evans hosted on The Nashville Network, Rogers even quipped that, when his “time” came, he wanted to be mounted on top of Trigger.
That never happened. But other celebrity-pet relationships have ventured into some unusual places:
Artist Salvador Dali turned heads in the 1960s by taking his pet anteater for walks on the streets of Paris, a sight captured by photographers. Tori Spelling, meanwhile, has caught the attention of modern-day paparazzi by taking her pet goat and even her pet silkie chicken for strolls.
Tippi Hedren was terrorized by winged creatures in The Birds, but she has a soft spot for other wildlife. In the 1970s, she had a pet lion named Neil that roamed around her home and often slept in bed with her then-teenaged daughter, Melanie Griffith.
Hedren still runs a wildlife sanctuary where lions and other animals roam freely.
Wild cats have been part of other celebrity-pet relationships. The legendary Josephine Baker won acclaim for her sensuous stage appearances and cabaret performances — and for her pet cheetah Chiquita, who would accompany her onstage. Famed boxer Mike Tyson, meanwhile, got a lion’s share of attention for hanging with three white tigers.
Michael Jackson had a penchant for felines as well. His 1982 album, Thriller, pictured him with a tiger. Jackson also had pet tigers, one named Thriller, the other Sabu. His most famous pet, though, was Bubbles, a chimpanzee who became an almost
childlike companion, sharing meals, eating candy, drinking tea — and using the toilet.
Celebrities tend to love posing with their pets. One attention grabber was Miley Cyrus, seen nude on the cover of Paper magazine with her pet pig, Bubba Sue. Cyrus isn’t alone when it comes to porcine pals. Megan Fox has had various exotic pets, but her potbellied pig, Piggy Smalls, got the most photo attention. When it comes to potbellied pigs as pets, though, another one was perhaps most famous.
George Clooney is still one of Hollywood’s most adored actors. And his marriage to political activist/lawyer Amal Alamuddin got worldwide attention.
Years ago, though, Clooney received lots of attention for another companion — a potbellied pig named Max. Clooney got him in 1988 as a gift for his then-girlfriend, Kelly Preston. Max grew to be 300 pounds and stuck around until 2006.
There have been other quirky celebrity-pet matchups. As a child, Steven Tyler had a raccoon named Bandit. For a while, Paris Hilton had a kinkajou named Baby Luv. And Reese Witherspoon got lots of attention for her miniature donkeys, Honky
and Tonky.
Exotic pets have even made it to the White House. President Calvin Coolidge and his wife, Grace, turned 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. into something of a zoo back in the 1920s. Their collection included raccoons named Rebecca and Reuben, a donkey named Ebenezer, a bobcat named Smoky, a pygmy hippo named Billy, two lion cubs, a wallaby and even a black bear.
And yes, they had multiple dogs during their years there as well.
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