This listing has
been culled over many years, so some celebrities will currently be
Golden-less. There are also listings that are more historical in nature.
JANE ALEXANDER
JANE ALEXANDER (actress
and head of the National Endowment for the Arts) has a Golden named Cody.
In Roger Caras' 1997 book,
The BOND: People
and Their Animals,
she indicates that one of the reasons for
choosing a Golden Retriever is the ease with which they fit into almost any situation.
""Everyone loves them," Jane says, "they can go anywhere." And
Cody does. Ed (husband Ed Sherin, executive producer of the TV series Law and Order) takes
him to work every day. He is an office dog and spends hours around the set during filming.
Cast and crew members vie for the pleasure of caring for him."
"When asked why she has a dog a large
dog with the busy life she leads, Jane hesitates because "the answers always
sound like clichés." When assured that she is talking to another avowed dog person,
she replies, "When I look into Cody's eyes it is like meeting an old soul. Cody is my
protector, my friend, my hiking companion. He is wonderful to touch, wonderful to come
home to." . . . When asked if she will ever be without a dog, she smiles and
says no."
VANESSA ALTER
VANESSA ALTER
(United States champion gymnast) has a Golden named
George.
PAMELA
ANDERSON (actress) has a Golden Retriever named Superstar
Bar "Star". Star came from a shelter, rescued by this
fair-haired TV lifeguard. Doesn't he look happy on the cover of the Summer 2001 Issue of
Animal Fair, a lifestyle magazine for animal lovers, these gorgeous Golden photos taken by
Christopher Ameruoso?
This is
what Pamela had to say about about her
Golden boy in the Animal Fair Cover Story article: "Star was the runt of the litter
and was born not breathing. Star was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and brought back
to life."
Recently
(Summer 2005), Pam had this to say about Star: “Star’s
like a person; he’s my partner in crime. He’s been with
me longer than anybody… I can see how long I’ve been in
LA and Hollywood when I look at Star.
“I look at Star and I can see my whole life pass before
me. I can remember when he was three months, six months…
and whatever I was doing in my career I can kind of
judge from the pictures and the memories that I have
with Star.
“He’s old for a big dog but he’s very healthy, he’s like
a puppy. He has a great spirit and he’s in the water
every day, he’s on the beach as much as possible. I
think that’s what keeps him young.”
Sad Update: March 18, 2007
"I just lost my 17-year-old golden retriever today ‘STAR’... I'm at a turning
point in my life - it's been over a month of carrying him to the grass and
holding him up to walk and pee and have some dignity... He has been with me
since his birth...as long as I've been in LA. Today is one of the hardest days
I've experienced...it shines a light on the 17 years in LA and the good the bad
and the ugly." ─ Pamela
Anderson
Update: March 29, 2007
Pam just added a new little guy to the family. Boy, is he a cutie. Meet JoJo
below, as a pup and somewhat older (2009).
JONATHAN ANTIN
JONATHAN ANTIN (star
of Bravo's reality TV show, Blow Out) has Golden Retrievers named
Nancy and Alcie. Jonathan indicates that he is an early riser so that
he can "enjoy all that's going on" in his life. He wakes up, has his
cup of coffee and then goes for a walk with his Goldens.
ROBIN ANTIN
ROBIN ANTIN
(Pussycat Dolls dance/music troupe creator) has a Golden Retriever named Sugar.
Robin told In Touch Weekly that
if Sugar was a Pussycat Doll, her name would be Sugar Pop.
SHAWN ASHMORE
SHAWN
ASHMORE is a Canadian film and television
actor, most famously known in his role as Jake in
the Animorphs television series and Iceman in the
X-Men films. Shawn has one pet, Jessica, a Golden
Retriever, that he got from his grandmother when he
was nine.
SCOTT BARNES
SCOTT BARNES (makeup artist to the stars)
had a Golden Retriever named Max. In a Summer 2001 Animal Fair Magazine article, Scott is shown with his
two doggie loves. Max, a cuddly Golden whose face is getting a little gray around the
muzzle, was his first and he beams about the fact that "Max has thirty toys and knows
the names of all of them."
The article indicates that
because business is booming forcing Scott to do a lot of traveling, a new pup was bought
to keep Max company. This new guy, Carlo, is the pictured Miniature Pinscher, in a photo
taken by Brad Starks. Of course, the two dogs have now grown very close. In fact, Scott
says, "If Max goes out of the room, Carlo starts to cry."
DAVE BARRY
DAVE
BARRY (writer) had a Golden Retriever named
Earnest.
MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV
MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV
has a Golden Retriever named
Katya [2007]. When Baryshnikov defected from Russia
in 1974, he had to leave his dog behind. We can well
imagine how hard that must have been as he is a huge
dog lover .
Dogs are a longtime passion of his.
"Sometimes I watch dog shows on TV," he says.
"The dogs are fine, but the owners!" He lets go
of the staircase, and suddenly he's
impersonating a whole procession of stuffy dog
owners preening over their prize pets. "And if
their dog doesn't win ..." His face becomes a
kaleidoscope of anguish and hurt pride.
JIM BELUSHI
JIM BELUSHI
(actor) had a Golden Retriever named Meemo.
BILL BLASS
BILL BLASS (clothing designer) has a Golden named
Brutus, as well as several others.
LARA FLYNN BOYLE
LARA
FLYNN BOYLE is an American film and
television actress best known for her performances
as Laura Palmer's best friend Donna Hayward in Twin
Peaks and Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble
in The Practice.
She likes to spend as much time as she can with
her Golden Retriever, Bella
JIMMY BUFFETT
JIMMY BUFFETT (popular singer, famous for song
"Margaritaville") has a Golden named Cheeseburger.
KEN BURNS
KEN BURNS (film
documentarian) has a 13-year-old Golden (9/07).
LANCE BURTON
LANCE BURTON (Las Vegas magician) has a 4-year-old Golden named Monte.
Here, at his home there aren't any white tigers. Instead, there's Monte, a friendly dude
who runs on nearly an acre of fenced
land, swims in the backyard pool, fetches, grasps
basketballs in his mouth, and generally seems the perfect companion for Lance.
Monte was a puppy Golden Retriever when Lance Burton
adopted him from the Animal Foundation of Nevada. He is now a very well-trained dog, as
Daddy Lance personally gave him lessons in dog obedience. Monte enjoys coming to work with
Lance and hanging out with the showgirls backstage.
LeVAR BURTON
LeVAR BURTON
(actor) has a Golden named Roy.
You can enjoy Roy at the beginning during a bath and
near the end of the video where he is celebrating
his birthday.
JACK CANFIELD
JACK
CANFIELD is an American motivational
speaker and author. He is best known as the
co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book
series, which currently has nearly 200 titles and
112 million copies in print in over 40 languages. He
has a Golden Retriever
JANN CARL
JANN CARL (Entertainment Tonight Correspondent) has a 15-year-old!
Golden Retriever. [as of 8/2000]
NICK CARTER
NICK CARTER (of the Backstreet Boys band) has a Golden Retriever
named Simba.
CHARISMA CARPENTER
CHARISMA CARPENTER
(television actress from shows Buffy The Vampire Slayer,
Veronica Mars, martial Buffy The Vampire
Slayer.) has two Golden Retrievers. Charisma recently
(spring 2006) did a feature with K9 Magazine, answering
20 questions posed by Kim Bruce. Here is some of that
article.
Tell us about your pets.
Names, breeds and ages, I know you’re a huge animal
lover. Well I have four dogs, I have two Golden
Retrievers, Sydney who’s 13 years old and Hurley
who’s 9 months, and I have another two dogs - I was
at the South Central Shelter encouraging people to
adopt and walked out with two dogs myself, one I’m
fostering and the other, Lucy, she’s around a year
old.
In which one way do you
believe dogs to be a superior life form to humans?
I’m sure if they could talk they’d give us an
earful! I have a fridge magnet which says “Try to be
the person your dog thinks you are”. They’re the
perfect example of unconditional love. I do feel as
though I fail her (Sydney), she’s been with me
through it all, including some tough times, from
when we were in a matchbox apartment which I used to
share with a friend, we had two beds next to each
other, Sydney used to like looking out the window
and I’d say to her, one day we’ll have a house with
a backyard. Now I say one day we’ll have a house
with a backyard and a pool. I hope I get it, she’s
13 years old and I always try to do right by her,
she never disappoints me.
Sydney
is perfect, she’s very in-tune with me, if I’m watching
a saga on TV and I get emotional, she’ll look at me just
like she’s checking in, she’s always been there, like my
right arm. There’s going to be a day in the near future
when she won’t be there.
We had a
dog called Hobey, we had him at the same time as we had
Hurley, he was a rescue and he was the same age as
Sydney when he passed away, we got him when he was 6
years old so we had him for seven years. My husband and
Hobey had such a connection, my husband even has a
tattoo of Hobie’s paw on his leg. He was very sick for a
year, it was the same time as my son was born when he
started to decline, and we got him all sorts of
treatments.
At the time I was working with my friend Holly Marie
Combs (who plays Piper in the hit show Charmed), on a
project for ABC, she was going through the same and she
gave me a book called “Goodbye Friend”, it helps you
determine what time is good, the humane time – it’s a
wonderful book, a great comfort.
Describe the last time you
had to shout at your pet. I shout at my
dogs every day, like “Lucy don’t jump on that” or
“dig holes” or “chew on the bushes” – I’m
always shouting. Like now I can see outside and I
can see the bushes moving and Sydney is just
watching, I sometimes have to make her go outside for some fresh air, she’d be quite happy
to lay next to me all day.
Describe the last time you
had to go to the vet. The last time was
when my dog Sydney had an ear infection and it was
not getting any better. The time before that was
when we were in a park in an area I call a slice of
heaven in California and we were shooting “Veronica
Mars”. Sydney was with me and someone was throwing
the ball for her, and she’s the kind of dog you know
who’ll just keep going and run herself into some
kind of fit. Anyway she was running and there was
some kind of a hole and she took a very nasty tumble
and came out holding her leg high. I took her to a
vet up there to give her something for the pain, she
saw the vet and nothing was broken, she had some
swollen tissue. I took her to our vet back home,
I’ve had the same vet for 13 years, I love him.
Robert Benchley famously
said "A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance and
to turn around three times before lying down." What
have you learned from your dog? Ha, ha, patience. My dog Sydney’s so patient, and to
love unconditionally. I do love her unconditionally.
To wash my hair only every couple of days and to
also eat like a lady. ... Lucy, well she teaches me
to be fun, spontaneous, out of control. Hurley is so
cute, like an old man in a young body.
This is always a tough
question and often requires a fair degree of
thinking time but…If your dog(s) had the ability to
speak and answer one question and one question only,
what would you ask them and what do you think that
they would say? I would just ask her, what could I do to make her
have the best day ever and I think she would
probably want to play fetch for a few hours, then
swim in the ocean and chase the seagulls. ... Eat
any people food I have and well, not have any other
dogs. It would just be her. And well, just hold her
and cuddle all day and night and then she’d sleep at
the foot of the bed.
JACKIE CHAN
JACKIE CHAN
is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer,
filmmaker, comedian, producer, martial artist,
screenwriter, and stunt performer. He has two Golden Retrievers,
(Little) Jones
and JJ [2008].
On May 13, 2006 Jackie's
15-month-old Golden "Jones" ran off from a residence in Mong Kok when
someone accidentally left a gate open. As soon as the
dog was discovered missing, the authorities were called
and notices were posted throughout the area. Several JC
Group staff members spent hours walking through the
neighborhood looking for any sign of Jones. Jackie was
heartbroken since he and Jones have a very close
bond.
News from
Jackie's site, however, on July 24, 2006
indicated some new Golden additions to the family:
"Jackie recently received a brand new puppy
from a friend after losing his beloved Golden
Retriever, Jones. Jackie thought it would be a
good idea for Little Jones to have a companion,
so he has added Jones's brother JJ to the
family."
Jackie is definitely a Golden lover
and knows how we all love growing up photos. He has
provided several galleries at his site, that
include:
MARY
CHAPIN-CARPENTER is an American folk and country music artist who
has won five Grammy Awards [2010], and is the only artist to have won four
consecutive Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. As of 2005,
she had sold more than 12 million records. She has a household filled with dogs
and has had many Golden Retrievers, such as Riley, Cal and Seamus.
Sadly, one of her past Goldens, Riley, lost his his battle to lymphoma in 1999.
MICHAEL
CHIKLIS
MICHAEL
CHIKLIS (actor from the TV Series, The Shield)has a Golden Retriever named Ruby. And, he talks
about Ruby as being his hiking partner.
"I go hiking with my golden retriever Ruby in L.A.'s canyons six days a week.
When my daughters Autumn and Odessa come with us, they hide in the bushes and
Ruby hunts them down. She finds them every time."
KELLY CLARK
KELLY CLARK is a snowboarder who became a member of
the US Snowboard team in 2000, and later won a gold medal in the Winter
Olympics. She has two Golden Retrievers, Peanut and Sam.
JOE COCKER
JOE COCKER
(musician)has a Golden Retriever named Ben.
This photo on the right from April 2008 shows Pam and Joe Cocker, and Golden
Ben when they had recently hosted an event for the Cocker Kids Foundation.
GUY COHELEACH
GUY COHELEACH (American wildlife artist) has a Golden Retriever named
Mischa. In Roger Caras' book,
The BOND: People
and Their Animals, Guy indicates that "Golden Retrievers are more
his kind of dog, and there have been three in a row: Lucky lived to be seventeen; then
came Kir, who made it to sixteen; and now there is Mischa, who is only
three." "They live pretty well with us. No wonder; we do any damn thing they
want us to do. But what a dimension they add to a household," Guy says.
"He continues, "Life without a dog
would be really empty. I feel good when there is a dog around. . . When I come out of my
study, Mischa comes over and checks on me. I would miss that terribly. She is kind of my
dog because I'm the one who throws the ball. When I go in and sit down in my chair, pop
open a beer and watch a little football, she comes over and puts her chin on my stomach, I
just melt. I am a sucker for that. It is so easy to get hopelessly attached." . . .
"You know, I don't think of Goldens as animals. I have plenty of animals in my
professional life, on safari and here in my studio. Goldens are humans, so help me,
they're people. Well, almost." "When you observe the whole animal it is an
ever-changing experience. That's what my Goldens have been to me, ever-changing
experiences. It is like having another family member."
BOBBY COLLINS (comedian) has a Golden Retriever named Winston.
Bobby has always had Golden Retrievers, and over the course of his life, has had five of
them. A Golden even appears on the cover of one of Bobby's most successful comedy CDs. You
can read about their very special relationship in the following newspaper article.
Winston fits right into the family circle with Collins, his wife, Jill,
and their two daughters, Hallie and Madison.
Dogs are
Part of the Act ... and the Family for Bobby Collins
Comedian Bobby Collins
is a dog guy, there's no doubt about it. His web page is loaded with pictures of a big,
fluffy Golden Retriever, and that same dog is pictured on the cover of one of his
successful comedy CDs. While his sense of humor may have made him famous, Collins says it
is to his dogs that he really owes the roof over his head--at least, a roof that is as
nice as the one he says he lives under now.
"I did a 'dog bit' on television a few years ago and it made me
famous," says Collins, who has opened for such entertainers as Cher, Julio Iglesias,
and Frank Sinatra. A native of Manhattan, NY, Collins says he was sitting down one night
eating chips and salsa when his dog at the time, Remy, looked longingly at the spicy
stuff. It gave him the idea for a funny bit, which he did for the first time when he guest
starred on the television show, VH-1 Stand-Up Spotlight (See box). When he was done,
"The show's switchboard lit up," Collins says. "I got calls to endorse dog
coats, all sorts of stuff, all on this one bit." As a result, "I owe a lot to my
dog. He really got me the house I'm living in!" Collins laughs.
Collins, who also has numerous
television, cable TV, and film credits to his name, has always had Golden Retrievers. Over
the course of his life, he has had five of them. While Collins notes they do require extra
care because of their longer fur and tendency toward hip problems, he loves them for their
temperament. That, and because, "They smile!" While he has since lost Remy
Martin, the dog that gave his career such a boost, Collins now has a two-year-old
Golden, named Winston, who everyone in his family clearly dotes on.
"When Remy died, I felt terrible. We held out for a year and a
half, and then my wife, Jill, brought home Winston." She got him from a rescue group
that saved him from being put to sleep. Of Winston, Collins says, "He's the
best." Collins, who always loved animals, grew up in New York, where it was hard for
families like his to keep pets in apartment buildings. "I was one of those kids who,
when we saw rich people with pets up on Park Avenue and places like that, would run up to
them and say, 'Can we pet them? Can we take them for a walk?' and the people would be
like... uh... not nice about it. But hey, that's New York!"
Another of the reasons why Collins loves Goldens is, "Because
they're so very gentle with children." Collins has two daughters, Hallie and Madison,
one of which is a special needs child. Both of his daughters love Winston "to
pieces," says Collins, and the dog seems to know that Collins' littlest one, Madison,
needs extra attention. "You just know he understands and protects her," Collins
says. For instance, Madison's legs don't work properly and Winston often licks them.
"I just well up when I see that. I look at him like, 'Hey pal, whatever you need, you
get.'"
For that reason, Collins tries to make sure Winston gets the best of
everything he needs and tries to take care of him the way he would one of his kids. As for
what he looks for in a veterinarian, Collins jokes: "A good temperament!" On the
serious side, Collins, who takes Winston to VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital in Los
Angeles, California, says it is really important to him to have a veterinarian who is kind
and gentle with his dog, knows how to handle him, and is obviously knowledgeable about
veterinary medicine.
Winston, along with the rest of Collins' family, often becomes part of
his act. "My material is everything that happens to me--going to the store with my
wife, visits from the plumber, what my dog does." In addition to appearing on his CDs
and web site, Collins also tries to include dogs in all sorts of family activities, and to
make sure he has fun.
He takes him jogging with him whenever he can, or down to the beach to chase
the seagulls, which Winston loves. The bottom line, says Collins, is "I'm a comic.
That's my job. But what I really am is a family man, and my dog is part of that
family."
PUTTIN' ON
THE DOG: "Hey, Bah-BEE!" Part tough New York cabby,
part adoring Golden Retriever, that is the personality Bobby Collins embues his dogs with
in his comedy act. Dogs are woven throughout his routines and conversations. In a thick
Brooklyn accent, for example, Collins imitates his loyal dog's imagined reaction to his
every move: "You need me, Bah-Bee?" One of Collins's most famous "dog
bits" is on his CD, On the Inside. In it, Collins relates how he and his dog
learned--the hard way--why dogs shouldn't eat salsa! When your best buddy sits at your
knee, however, and pleads, "Awww, I love dat stuff, Bah-Bee," it is hard not to
give in!
ANDERSON
COOPER is an American journalist, author, and television personality.
He currently works as the primary anchor of the CNN
news show Anderson Cooper 360° [2010]. Anderson had a Golden
Retriever named Ozzie.
SHERYL CROW
SHERYL CROW (singer) has a Golden
Retriever.
TOM CRUISE
TOM CRUISE (movie actor) has two Golden Retrievers named Chloe
& Luke, named for "Cool Hand Luke."
JAMIE LEE CURTIS
JAMIE LEE CURTIS (actress in movies Halloween and True Lies) has
several Golden Retrievers.
BILLY RAY CYRUS
BILLY RAY CYRUS (recording artist and star of PAX TV show, Doc) has a
Golden Retriever named Fluke.
JIM CZAJKOWSKI
JIM CZAJKOWSKI (veterinarian-turned-writer)
has a Golden Retriever. Czajkowski is actually adventure-novel author James Rollins and
fantasy author James Clemens. As Rollins, he has written "Subterranean,"
"Excavation," "Deep Fathom," "Amazonia" and "Ice
Hunt." Under the Clemens byline, he's written a five-book fantasy series.
KRISTIN DAVIS
KRISTIN DAVIS
(actress,
played Charlotte on HBO's Sex and the City) had a Golden named Callie.
She took Callie on walks through Central Park in New York and to many dog parks in Los
Angeles. Here
she is on this Fall 2002 pet magazine cover with her
girl, and in the interview she noted that she had
pitched overboard more than one boyfriend -- because he
competed with her dog for her attention -- and lost.
At one
time, Kristin had to put Callie on a diet after she put
on 20 pounds at a Los Angeles doggy camp while her owner
was filming in New York.
When doing interviews for her 2006 film, "The Shaggy
Dog," Kristin paid homage to her beloved golden
retriever, Callie, who she lost to cancer in the fall of
2005.
NEIL DIAMOND
NEIL DIAMOND (popular
singer of songs "Sweet Caroline" and "I'm a Believer") has a Golden
named Sol. The name is short for Neil
Diamond's song "Solitary Man."
Sol was a gift from a fan who named a whole
litter of dogs after Diamond songs.
We also learned that a few years after Neil added
Sol to his family he brought Golden Lady
aboard.
Faera breeder, Rhona Hovan, indicates that Neal is a wonderful dad who is totally
devoted to his Golden kids. Now, would we expect anything different?
PHYLLIS DILLER
PHYLLIS DILLER (comedian) has a Golden named
Gemina.
SHANNON DOHERTY
SHANNON DOHERTY (actress in the TV series Beverly Hills 90210) has a
Golden named Clancy Muldoon, as well as
others.
TOM DOLAN
TOM DOLAN (Olympic Gold Medal winner in swimming) has a Golden named
Cool.
PHIL DONAHUE
PHIL DONAHUE (TV talk host) has two Golden Retrievers.
JERRY DOUGLAS
JERRY DOUGLAS (actor in the TV series The Young and The Restless) has
a Golden Retriever.
ELIZA DUSHKU
ELIZA
DUSHKU is an American actress best known
for her roles on television, such as her recurring
appearances as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and
its spinoff series Angel. She now [2010] produces
and stars in the series Dollhouse as Echo.
Eliza
has two furry buddies: Golden Retriever “Max
Factor” and Bernese Mountain Dog “Rigby Idaho”.