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Word of the Day – Thursday, May 23rd

 


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ASTA (AS-tuh)

Acting Terrier best known for his Thin Man role
Common
clues: Film canine; "The Thin Man" dog; Film pooch; Hammett hound; Nick and Nora's pooch; Cinema canine; Dog star; Clue sniffer of fiction; Literary schnauzer
Crossword puzzle frequency: 9 times a year
Video:
After the Thin Man


Nora Charles: [to Asta, as Nick and Asta are going out on a case] If you let anything happen to him, you'll never wag that tail again.


Asta (born Skippy) was a Wire-Haired Fox Terrier best known for his acting work in the 1934 screwball comedy The Thin Man. He was trained by Frank Weatherwax and owner Henry East. He later appeared in The Awful Truth (as Mr. Smith), Bringing Up Baby (as George, the bone hiding pup of Katharine Hepburn), and Topper Takes A Trip (as Mr. Atlas). Due to the enormous popularity of Asta, interest in pet terriers skyrocketed.




As a character in the movie The Thin Man, Asta was the playful pet dog of Nick and Nora Charles, tugging them around town on his walks, hiding from danger, and sniffing out dead corpses. The character later appeared in the sequels After the Thin Man, Another Thin Man, Shadow of the Thin Man, The Thin Man Goes Home, Song of the Thin Man, as well as the 1950s television show. Although Skippy played Asta in the original film, it is believed multiple terriers were used for the sequels, and he wasn't involved in the television show.


Interestingly, the original character of Asta in Dashiell Hammett's book of the The Thin Man was not a Wire-Haired Fox Terrier, but a Schnauzer.



This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Asta".