Hollywood’s Fabricated Lie Which Has Continued for 70 Years

by Linda Kay

Since beginning the Cinema Cats blog just over ten years ago, I have compiled a large amount of research on various cat actors, some of which is not so well known. One of the most interesting stories I have worked to piece together over these many years is that of cat actor Orangey. It was clear from the beginning that Orangey, who was trained by Frank Inn, was not just one cat actor but in fact numerous cats, both hero cats and stand-ins, who have represented the Orangey name over a period of time which could unrealistically have been handled by just one cat.

While my father was struggling through his health issues earlier this year I started doing deep dive research into Frank Inn and Orangey covering many decades. Because of Dad’s passing I have not had the time to compile and complete these Special Features on Orangey (and yes, there will be several covering many years!) to share what I have found. But one story stood out and came as quite a surprise to me and I think to anyone who has followed our site.

The original cat known as Orangey Murray never even made it on screen.

Yes, you read that right. No cat named Orangey ever actually made it in front of the cameras. The cat known as Orangey Murray was discovered as part of a “talent search” and slated to be part of the cat team for the film Rhubarb, but sadly that cat passed away from an illness which was running rampant through Inn’s kennels at the time.

However, since Hollywood just loved that rags to riches story of Orangey being “discovered,” they ran with it anyway. Frank Inn was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He had to honor the studio’s publicity machine, while at the same time the author of the original book Rhubarb, H. Allen Smith, refused to let him use the name Rhubarb for the cat actor. So Orangey the cats became and Orangey they have continued to remain from then until now (although Inn did later begin to use the name Rhubarb as well).

There is SO much more to the story and it is a fascinating tale. I will be working on the full history which hopefully I can start publishing before the end of the year (not to mention finally publishing detailed back stories on many other cat actors).

In the meantime, this bombshell has been brought to light in a fabulous video by Alex Boucher on his YouTube channel entitled The Art of Cat Acting. This video not only covers Orangey’s background but shares some really awesome behind the scenes footage and stories about many great cat actors over the years. This is one of the best videos we have ever seen on cat acting and we encourage you to not only watch this wonderful short film but give Alex some support by visiting his channel and liking and / or subscribing.