The ruff guide to SUPERSTARDOM

As the world’s most famous dog, Uggie releases his memoirs. Rhian Jenkins goes to meet him (and his trainer) and uncovers the secrets of his success…

He is the skateboarding Jack Russell who broke into Hollywood appearing alongside Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson as Queenie in Water For Elephants. But he became the world’s most famous dog last year when he starred in director Michel Hazanavicius’s silent film, The Artist. There were cries for Uggie to win an Oscar (the first dog to do so). He even appeared on the cover of this magazine.

Now Uggie has released his memoirs – with a little help from celebrity biographer Wendy Holden.

I went to meet Uggie, Holden and his trainer, Omar von Muller, to see whether he really is an iconic Hollywood star, or just another pooch in a long line of Hollywood mutts…

Even at 11 (about 70 in dog years), Uggie is extremely handsome in the fur. And it’s immediately apparent that Holden and Omar von Muller think he’s the real deal.

‘There are dogs such as Lassie, Rin Tin Tin and Beethoven, but most of the dogs were playing a written role. It’s the name Lassie that is famous, not the 20 or so dogs that played the role,’ says von Muller. ‘Uggie, however, is known for being Uggie. I feel that’s what makes a di–fference.’

Uggie is certainly famous simply for being him – earlier this year he had a cameo part in the film, The Campaign, in which Will Ferrell’s beleagured character sinks to a new low by accidentally punching ‘America’s favourite dog’.

‘Of all the famous dogs in history, Uggie is the only one who has ever been invited to place his paw prints outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre – Lassie and Rin Tin Tin were never a– orded that honour,’ says Holden.

Fame, however, hasn’t gone to his head. In fact, Omar von Muller tells me, Uggie is still a very humble dog: ‘He just wants to meet people and kiss them. He really enjoys his fame.’

Not that he’s always on his best behaviour. ‘Every once in a while I’ll tell him to do something and he looks at me as though he’s saying “are you talking to me?” But it could be that he’s ignoring me, or he’s getting old and just didn’t hear me. But he’s still humble and I don’t think it’s gone too much to his head.’


As well as appearing as a guest on many famous talk shows, such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Graham Norton Show, Uggie has rubbed shoulders with hundreds of celebrities – and most have been wowed by him.

Uggie’s career has also branched out. In February, during Responsible Pet Owners Month, Nintendo named him its first spokesdog for computer game Nintendogs, something that von Muller was eager for Uggie to do. ‘The game teaches children about the responsibility of owning pets,’ he says.

Uggie and von Muller were brought together when the trainer rescued Uggie from the pound. Uggie had been rejected because he was too wild and, while von Muller only intended to work on the dog’s behaviour, Uggie quickly became a member of the family.

‘The nicest thing about this tale is that it’s a love a– air between Omar and Uggie,’ Holden says. ‘First, Omar rescued Uggie and changed his life, and now Uggie has changed Omar’s life and the lives of his whole family.’

Omar von Muller also hopes that Uggie’s life story will encourage a more positive view of pet adoption. ‘Uggie’s main message to the world is to please go out and adopt. And we need to educate people so that the pets don’t su–ffer,’ Uggie’s trainer says. ‘As soon as life starts slowing down, we’re going to try to do as much charity work for adopted animals as we can.’

Appearing as Jack the dog in The Artist brought Uggie to the attention of the mass media, but working on a silent film posed its own particular challenges. ‘I’d be repeating “speak, speak, speak!” to Uggie, and then I would realise that I was distracting the actor, so I’d have to stand back and just use hand signals.’

Uggie shone, nonetheless, inspiring the director and actors. Director Hazanavicius even ‘changed the script because Uggie was more talented than he expected’, says Holden.

‘Uggie taught everyone a great deal about how to be a silent actor because they normally rely on words, while he can only ever rely on his gestures,’ Holden says.

‘Jean Dujardin [who played the leading man in The Artist] has said that he learned from Uggie about how not to overplay a role and to have a presence without words.’

But the hours were long and von Muller is now taking Uggie into retirement. Not that the canine star will stop working altogether. ‘He’s 11 years old, but he’s still full of energy, so parts where he only needs to be there for a couple of hours are OK,’ von Muller says.

‘Retirement for Uggie doesn’t mean letting him stay at home, it just means stopping him from working long hours as it’s not fair on him. But he enjoys all of this, so as long as he can do things like this with a good attitude, then there should be no problem. If not, they have to go with his younger brother, Dash!’

Holden and von Muller are eager to continue working in the book industry. ‘We’re keen to do a training book with the two of them, about how Omar learnt the tricks of his trade,’ Holden says. ‘Not every dog can be an Uggie, obviously, but they can at least learn a few tricks and how to be obedient, and how to have a little bit of star quality.’

And does Uggie agree? ‘Woof,’ he barks goodbye.

Uggie, The Artist: My Story by Uggie and Wendy Holden is published by HarperCollins Press, priced £9.99.