Jon Provost
Encyclopedia
Jon Provost is a former child actor
of film
and television
. He is best known for his role as young Timmy Martin in the CBS
series, Lassie
.
At the age of four, Provost was cast in the film The Country Girl
(1954), starring Bing Crosby
and Grace Kelly
. He then appeared in Back from Eternity
(1956) with Anita Ekberg
and Escapade in Japan
(1957), again with Ekberg and an unknown (and uncredited
) Clint Eastwood
.
In 1957, Provost acquired the role of Timmy Martin in the CBS television series Lassie
. He joined the show at the top of the fourth season as co-star to Tommy Rettig
, Jan Clayton
, and George Cleveland
. Midpoint in the season, George Cleveland died and the show was completely revamped with Provost becoming the human star after the departures of Rettig and Clayton. Hugh Reilly
and June Lockhart
joined the show in 1958 as Timmy's parents (roles had been played by Jon Shepodd
and Cloris Leachman
). On December 25, 1958, Provost and Lassie were holiday guests on NBC
's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
. This was the only time of the five years that the Ford program ran that an episode actually aired on Christmas Day. Ford sang the carol
"Some Children See Him" for the first time on this episode.
For seven seasons, 1957–1964, audiences grew to love Timmy and his adventures with Lassie. In 1964, however, Provost was fourteen and chose not to renew his contract though Campbell's Soup Company, the sponsor, wanted three more years. With Provost out of the picture, the format of the series was revamped. The Martins were sent to Australia to teach agriculture while Lassie was forced to remain in the United States because of quarantine
regulations. Robert Bray
was then cast as forest ranger Corey Stuart, Lassie's new owner from 1964-1968. Although different collies were featured throughout the run of all three series, Lassie was presumed to be the same collie, which would have made her at least 15 years old at the end of the third series.
Provost's career as a television child star ended, and he left show business when he was eighteen. He received a Bachelor of Arts
degree in psychology
and worked for a time in the field of special education
.
Later, he sold real estate
in Sonoma County
north of San Francisco
and donated his time to various causes. In 1991, Provost returned to television with a recurring role in The New Lassie
series as real estate agent, Steve McCullough. In one nostalgic episode, he appeared together with Tommy Rettig
. In another episode, June Lockhart reprised her role as Timmy's mother, Ruth Martin. In an incredible twist, the audience learned Timmy was never properly adopted by the Martins and forced to remain in the States while they continued on to Australia. Timmy was then adopted by the McCullough family and began using the name, Steve McCullough.
Today, Provost continues to attend celebrity conventions and autograph parties. He sometimes appears on network news
programs to speak about classical television and American culture. In 1994, Provost received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 7080 Hollywood Blvd.
His memoirs, Timmy's in the Well: The Jon Provost Story, were released in November 2007 (Cumberland House Publishing, ISBN 1-58182-619-2). In August 2008, Provost was honored with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the Pocono Mountains Film Festival.
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
of film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. He is best known for his role as young Timmy Martin in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
series, Lassie
Lassie (1954 TV series)
Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie named Lassie and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973...
.
At the age of four, Provost was cast in the film The Country Girl
The Country Girl (1954 film)
The Country Girl is a 1954 drama film adapted by George Seaton from a Clifford Odets play of the same name, which tells the story of an alcoholic has-been actor struggling with the one last chance he's been given to resurrect his career. It stars Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and William Holden. Seaton,...
(1954), starring Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
. He then appeared in Back from Eternity
Back from Eternity
Back from Eternity is a 1956 drama film about a planeload of people stranded in the South American jungle and subsequently menaced by headhunters. It is a remake of an earlier 1939 film, Five Came Back, starred Chester Morris and Lucille Ball, also directed and produced by John Farrow...
(1956) with Anita Ekberg
Anita Ekberg
Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg is a Swedish model, actress and cult sex symbol. She is best known for her role as Sylvia in the 1960 Federico Fellini film La Dolce Vita which features the legendary scene of her cavorting in Trevi Fountain alongside Marcello Mastroianni.-Biography:Ekberg was born in...
and Escapade in Japan
Escapade in Japan
Escapade in Japan is a 1957 American family adventure film. It was directed by Arthur Lubin and starring Teresa Wright, Cameron Mitchell, Jon Provost and Roger Nakagawa. It also featured an early appearance of Clint Eastwood as a pilot.-Synopsis:...
(1957), again with Ekberg and an unknown (and uncredited
Motion picture credits
-Opening credits:Opening credits, in a television program, motion picture, or video game, are shown at the beginning of a show and list the most important members of the production. They are usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in...
) Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
.
In 1957, Provost acquired the role of Timmy Martin in the CBS television series Lassie
Lassie (1954 TV series)
Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie named Lassie and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973...
. He joined the show at the top of the fourth season as co-star to Tommy Rettig
Tommy Rettig
Thomas Noel "Tommy" Rettig was an American child actor,computer software engineer, and author. Rettig is best remembered for portraying the character "Jeff Miller" in the first three seasons of CBS's Lassie television series, from 1954–1957, later seen in syndicated re-runs as Jeff's Collie...
, Jan Clayton
Jan Clayton
Jan Clayton was a film, musical theatre, and television actress.-Career:...
, and George Cleveland
George Cleveland
George Alan Cleveland was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in over 180 films between 1933 and 1954.-Career:...
. Midpoint in the season, George Cleveland died and the show was completely revamped with Provost becoming the human star after the departures of Rettig and Clayton. Hugh Reilly
Hugh Reilly
Hugh Reilly was an American actor, appearing on the Broadway stage, in films, and on television. He is best remembered for co-starring in the mid-1950s television series Lassie.-Early years and career:...
and June Lockhart
June Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...
joined the show in 1958 as Timmy's parents (roles had been played by Jon Shepodd
Jon Shepodd
Jon Shepodd is an American actor.On television, he was the first actor to play the role of Paul Martin in the long running series Lassie, making his debut mid-fourth season opposite Cloris Leachman as his wife Ruth Martin....
and Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award...
). On December 25, 1958, Provost and Lassie were holiday guests on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
The Ford Show
The Ford Show is a half-hour comedy/variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired in color on NBC television on Thursday evenings from October 4, 1956 to June 29, 1961....
. This was the only time of the five years that the Ford program ran that an episode actually aired on Christmas Day. Ford sang the carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
"Some Children See Him" for the first time on this episode.
For seven seasons, 1957–1964, audiences grew to love Timmy and his adventures with Lassie. In 1964, however, Provost was fourteen and chose not to renew his contract though Campbell's Soup Company, the sponsor, wanted three more years. With Provost out of the picture, the format of the series was revamped. The Martins were sent to Australia to teach agriculture while Lassie was forced to remain in the United States because of quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
regulations. Robert Bray
Robert Bray
Robert E. Bray was an American film and television actor probably best remembered for his role as the forest ranger Corey Stuart in the long-running CBS series Lassie.-Life and career:...
was then cast as forest ranger Corey Stuart, Lassie's new owner from 1964-1968. Although different collies were featured throughout the run of all three series, Lassie was presumed to be the same collie, which would have made her at least 15 years old at the end of the third series.
Provost's career as a television child star ended, and he left show business when he was eighteen. He received a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and worked for a time in the field of special education
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
.
Later, he sold real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
in Sonoma County
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....
north of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and donated his time to various causes. In 1991, Provost returned to television with a recurring role in The New Lassie
The New Lassie
The New Lassie was an American television series which aired in first-run syndication for two seasons beginning in 1989, reviving the beloved "Lassie" collie character who debuted in the 1943 film Lassie Come Home, followed by several more movies and a long-running earlier Lassie television series...
series as real estate agent, Steve McCullough. In one nostalgic episode, he appeared together with Tommy Rettig
Tommy Rettig
Thomas Noel "Tommy" Rettig was an American child actor,computer software engineer, and author. Rettig is best remembered for portraying the character "Jeff Miller" in the first three seasons of CBS's Lassie television series, from 1954–1957, later seen in syndicated re-runs as Jeff's Collie...
. In another episode, June Lockhart reprised her role as Timmy's mother, Ruth Martin. In an incredible twist, the audience learned Timmy was never properly adopted by the Martins and forced to remain in the States while they continued on to Australia. Timmy was then adopted by the McCullough family and began using the name, Steve McCullough.
Today, Provost continues to attend celebrity conventions and autograph parties. He sometimes appears on network news
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
programs to speak about classical television and American culture. In 1994, Provost received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 7080 Hollywood Blvd.
His memoirs, Timmy's in the Well: The Jon Provost Story, were released in November 2007 (Cumberland House Publishing, ISBN 1-58182-619-2). In August 2008, Provost was honored with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the Pocono Mountains Film Festival.
Complete filmography
- 1970: The Secret of the Sacred Forest
- 1969: The Computer Wore Tennis ShoesThe Computer Wore Tennis ShoesThe Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is a Disney film from 1969, starring Alan Hewitt, Kurt Russell, Frank Webb, and Joe Flynn. It is released by Buena Vista Distribution Company....
, starring Kurt RussellKurt RussellKurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters... - 1966: This Property Is CondemnedThis Property is CondemnedThis Property Is Condemned is a 1966 American drama film starring Natalie Wood, Robert Redford, Kate Reid, Charles Bronson and Mary Badham and directed by Sydney Pollack. The screenplay was written by Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Coe and Edith Sommer. The story was adapted from the 1946 one-act...
- 1964: The Wayfarers [TV]
- 1964: The Disappearance [TV]
- 1962: Lassie's Great Adventure (The Odyssey) [TV]
- 1957: Escapade in JapanEscapade in JapanEscapade in Japan is a 1957 American family adventure film. It was directed by Arthur Lubin and starring Teresa Wright, Cameron Mitchell, Jon Provost and Roger Nakagawa. It also featured an early appearance of Clint Eastwood as a pilot.-Synopsis:...
- 1956: Toward the UnknownToward the UnknownToward the Unknown is a 1956 movie about the dawn of supersonic flight filmed on location at Edwards Air Force Base. Starring William Holden, Lloyd Nolan and Virginia Leith, the film features the screen debut of James Garner. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and written by Beirne Lay, Jr...
- 1956: All Mine to Give
- 1956: Back from EternityBack from EternityBack from Eternity is a 1956 drama film about a planeload of people stranded in the South American jungle and subsequently menaced by headhunters. It is a remake of an earlier 1939 film, Five Came Back, starred Chester Morris and Lucille Ball, also directed and produced by John Farrow...
- 1954: The Country GirlThe Country Girl (1954 film)The Country Girl is a 1954 drama film adapted by George Seaton from a Clifford Odets play of the same name, which tells the story of an alcoholic has-been actor struggling with the one last chance he's been given to resurrect his career. It stars Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and William Holden. Seaton,...
- 1953: So BigSo Big (1953 film)So Big is a 1953 American drama film directed by Robert Wise. The screenplay by John Twist is based on the 1924 novel by Edna Ferber. It is the third adaptation of the book, following a 1924 silent film with Colleen Moore and So Big! with Barbara Stanwyck, released in 1932.-Plot:In the late 1890s,...