Posted: May 28, 2008, 5 a.m. EDT
Hollywood’s “other” Oscar, a German Shepherd Dog who rose from desperate beginnings to live an A-list life among celebrities like Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, and George Clooney, died in London on Sunday at age 12.
The dog rose to fame in 1997 when owner Dennis Gill noticed a phalanx of photographers rushing toward London’s Metropolitan Hotel, where Gill sold newspapers.
Jack Nicholson emerged from the hotel moments later, and made a beeline for Oscar, who tried to jump into the actor’s chauffer-driven car. Photographers snapped away, and the dog’s picture appeared in several newspapers the next day.
Over the ensuing decade, a red carpet-worthy list of famous names lined up to be photographed with Oscar outside the hotel, including Danny De Vito, Elle Macpherson, and John Travolta.
Gill told Britain’s The Metro that Clooney even took Oscar for a stroll. “He was at a restaurant in London and he put Oscar on a lead and took him for a walk,” says Gill, who rescued the dog as a puppy.
“He has been snapped with almost every famous Hollywood person you can think of,” Gill says. “He was on first-name terms when they came to town and saw him again. There’s not really anyone he’s not been snapped with.”
To view pictures of Oscar and several of his Hollywood friends, click here.