Pete the Pup was a famous dog actor, most popular for his work in Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies (later known as The Little Rascals) during the 1920s and 1930s. Otherwise known as "Pete, the Dog With the Ring Around His Eye" or simply "Petey", he was famous for having a circled eye that was added on by Hollywood make-up artist Max Factor and credited as an oddity in Ripley's Believe It or Not. The original Pete had a natural ring almost completely around his eye; dye was used to finish it off.
Pete first started out as "Tige" in the Buster Brown series in the 1920's, It was during this time that he obtained the circled eye, and when he was recruited to appear in the Our Gang comedies later that year, Hal Roach simply left it on, creating one of the most recognized dogs in film history.
During the late-20s, Pete became as recognizable and popular as the kids in the gang. Pete continued appearing in Our Gang comedies until 1930, when he died after being poisoned by a piece of meat tainted with broken glass.
The dog's trainer and owner Lt. Harry Lucenay used one of Pete's offspring to continue on with Pete in the series. This dog, called "Lucenay's Peter," was dual-registered as an AKC Staffordshire Bull Terrier and as a UKC American Pit Bull Terrier. Lucenay's Peter was whelped September 6, 1929 and bred by A. A. Keller. A few other dogs played Petey, but Lucenay's Peter was the most famous. After being fired from the Our Gang series in 1932, Harry Lucenay retired Pete to Atlantic City, where he was photographed with children at the famed Steel Pier. Roach used a number of unrelated bulldogs to portray Pete in Our Gang until 1938.
Other Pete the Pup characters are also known. One is a wooden puppet which was based on the 1927 Walter Lantz cartoon titled "Pete the Pup" aka. Hot Dog Cartoons, which could have been the inspiration for the Our Gang Pete. Another cartoon dog, "Petey the Pup", was created by Ruby-Spears Productions in the 1980s and appeared in The Puppy's New Adventures segment of The Scooby-Doo/Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour. Other unrelated Pete the Pup characters have also been seen in children's books.
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Pete's Place
