Figure 1.--This publicity still of Tommy was from the "River of No Return" in 1954 with Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchem. We think that was his best performance.

Most Americans will forever associate Tommy Rettig with Lassie's faithful companion Jeff. Tommy was born December 10, 1941 in Jackson Heights, New York. He played in stage, radio television , and movie roles. He started his career at age six, touring with Mary Martin in "Annie Get Your Gun." He played Little Jake for some 22 months. He was offered a part in stage plays ("Member of the Wedding" and "Peter Pan"), but his mother decided on the movies. Tommy wore a the dress as called for in the younger brother role in "Member of the Wedding." He made his screen debut when he was 9 years old. During the 1950s he appeared in 17 films, usually only small bit parts. I've seen a few and he never appears in short pants--even when he wears a nice suit in "For Heavens' Sake" and was young enough to do so. Perhaps his most memorable role was the boy with a vivid imagination in the "5,000 Fingers of Dr. T" (1953). Tommy recalls "By the time I was 9, I'd done everything--movies, stage, radio, TV. Everybody thought it was real cute for a kid my age to be so sophisticated--but it was murder on my emotional development. More than anything else, I wanted to be normal. I wanted to have friends, go out on dates--just lead a normal life. But things were always going to fast. Then too, I was spoiled as a kid--and still am. I was an only child, and that was about 80 percent of the problem." He gained wide popularity in the "Lassie" TV show as Jeff, Lassie's first master from 1954-58. He had never read the books or seen the movies, but clicked in the part and became very popular. Later, Jan Clayton, who played his mother on the "Lassie" television series, recalls "In a sense I became his mother at the studio as well as in the series. We could relate. He needed a real mother, not a business manager." Clayton says that Mrs. Rettig "was the classic stage manager--always on the set, always too ambitious." During vacations from the television set, Tommy continued to make movies. They included big-budget films such as "The Egyptian" (1954), "River of No Return" (1954), and the "Last Wagon" (1956). Of all the movies I've seen, the only one I thought he performed well in was "River of No Return" with Marilyn Monroe. Tommy was quite short, as an adult he only reached 5 ft 4 in, which didn't help his efforts to win adult roles. Failing in his bid for adult roles, he retired to a California farm where he was arrested for growing marijuana. He was sentenced to 2 years probation. In 1975 he was arrested for smuggling cocaine and sentenced to 5 years in the Federal prison. His cocaine smuggling conviction was overturned on appeal. Tom finally began to get his life under control in the mid-1980s and he achieved some success as a software developer. He died of a heart attack in Marina del Rey, California on February 15, 1996. He was survived by his ex-wife and two adult sons.

Childhood

Tommy was born December 10, 1941 in Jackson Heights, New York. His mother apparas to have been more of a businees manager than a mother. She was a classic stage mother. Looking back as an adult Rettig complains that had a real childhood. Jan Clayton, who played his mother on the "Lassie" television series, recalls "In a sense I became his mother at the studio as well as in the series. We could relate. He needed a real mother, not a business manager." Clayton says that Mrs. Rettig "was the classic stage manager--always on the set, always too ambitious."

Career

He played in stage, radio television , and movie roles.

Stage Plays

He started his career at age six, touring with Mary Martin in "Annie Get Your Gun." He played Little Jake for some 22 months. He was offered a part in stage plays ("Member of the Wedding" and "Peter Pan"), but his mother decided on the movies. Tommy wore a the dress as called for in the younger brother role in "Member of the Wedding." This was the role made famous by Brandon de Wilde.

Movies

Tommy made his screen debut when he was 9 years old. During the 1950s he appeared in 17 films, usually only small bit parts. I've seen a few and he never appears in short pants--even when he wears a nice suit in "For Heavens' Sake" and was young enough to do so. Perhaps his most memorable role was the boy with a vivid imagination in the "5,000 Fingers of Dr. T" (1953). Even after "Lassie" began on television, Tommy during vacations from the television set, continued to make movies. They included big-budget films such as "The Egyptian" (1954), "River of No Return" (1954), and the "Last Wagon" (1956). Of all the movies I've seen, the only one I thought he performed well in was "River of No Return" with Marilyn Monroe. He wore plain frontier clothes as well as a bowl-cut hair cut. This was of course named after a metod used by mothers--putting a bowl over a boy's head and cutting around it. Interestingly the cut was rather fashionable at the tirn of the 21st century in America.

Television

Most Americans will forever associate Tommy Rettig with Lassie's faithful companion Jeff. He gained wide popularity in the "Lassie" TV show as Jeff, Lassie's first master from 1954-58. Tommy never read the books or seen the movies, but clicked in the part and became very popular. The show is a wondeful archive of the clothes worn by American boys in the mid-1950s, including stripped "T"-shirts, jeans, and Keds®.

Reflections

Tommy recalls "By the time I was 9, I'd done everything--movies, stage, radio, TV. Everybody thought it was real cute for a kid my age to be so sophisticated--but it was murder on my emotional development. More than anything else, I wanted to be normal. I wanted to have friends, go out on dates--just lead a normal life. But things were always going to fast. Then too, I was spoiled as a kid--and still am. I was an only child, and that was about 80 percent of the problem."

Adult Roles

Tommy was quite short, as an adult he only reached 5 ft 4 in, which didn't help his efforts to win adult roles.

Drug Problem

Failing in his bid for adult roles, he retired to a California farm where he was arrested for growing marijuana. He was sentenced to 2 years probation. In 1975 he was arrested for smuggling cocaine and sentenced to 5 years in the Federal prison. His cocaine smuggling conviction was overturned on appeal.

Software Career

Tom finally began to get his life under control in the mid-1980s and he achieved some success as a software developer. The last ten or so years of his life (starting 1984, maybe earlier), Tom was a very successful software developer working on office applications. He was regarded as one of the experts in the area of Ashton-Tate's dBASE product line and related products. Several products are still named after Mr. Rettig.

End

Rettig died of a heart attack in Marina del Rey, California on February 15, 1996. He was survived by his ex-wife and two adult sons.

Reader Comments

"I was and am a fan of Tommy Rettig. I love watching the old Lassie shows over and over. It may sound crazy but I never get tired of them. Growing up on busy Long Island is what attracted me to the farm life of Calverton. Ironic, that Tommy came from near the same busy area as I did. I hadn't realized Tommy had married and had 2 sons. Do you know what became of his sons? Who knows - maybe one of his son's has acting ability and he could continue his dad's role as new owner of the farm in Calverton. I know after George Clevelands death, Ellen sold the farm to another family, The Martins, but wouldn't it be nice if Jeff (Tommy's son) could come back and buy it? Start of a whole new series here. I was really saddened when I had heard of Tommy's death. It seemed to me a very special person had passed away before his time along with a special era." -- Marsha Grant [HBC note: Sorry Marsha, we have no additional information on Tommy or his family.]