Posted: October 23, 2008, 5 a.m. EDT
John Grogan has a Hollywood star at his feet. No, it’s not Jennifer Aniston or Owen Wilson, the actors who play Grogan and his wife Jenny in the upcoming film version of Grogan’s bestselling book, “Marley & Me.”
The star is Woodson, a now 8-month-old Labrador Retriever puppy who was one of 24 dogs to play Marley in “Marley & Me,” which opens Dec. 25.
Woodson lives with Grogan, his wife, and their three children – plus three cats, two chickens, and another Lab, 4-year-old Gracie – in the family’s suburban Philadelphia home.
The real Marley died in 2003 and is buried in Grogan’s backyard under several cherry trees and wild raspberry bushes. Grogan told USA Today that there is no headstone to mark the resting spot of one of publishing’s most famous canines. “I intentionally wanted him to blend into the landscape,” he says.
Grogan’s second memoir, “The Longest Trip Home,” which chronicles Grogan’s devoutly Catholic upbringing in suburban Detroit, arrived in bookstores Tuesday.