Charlie
2005 – 2015
“A Gentle Giant of Love”
Remembering Charlie
Responsible Pet Parenting
Excerpt from Ferreira Fest 39, Q&A with Louis Ferreira
It was funny, I took Charlie to Aroma Café yesterday… And Charlie, for some reason, there’s two water bowls there and he started drinking, like he’s dehydrated.
I was like, “Charlie, what’s…” you know, he’s just lapping it all up. And he just finished drinking it and of course everyone sees Charlie and reacts because he’s just so beautiful and majestic and unique. And just as these two people came over and they wanted to pet him, Charlie threw up right on the front steps of the Aroma Café. Just like, yaaag, because he had just drunk the water way too fast. And so David [DeLuise] and I spent the first fifteen minutes cleaning up throw-up in front of the Aroma Café. It was quite funny.
Although I will say that I cleaned up and David gave me directions as to where there was still stuff…
(Mimics David) “You missed a spot.”
Thanks, David.
(Mimics David) “You missed a spot over there!”
I got it, thank you, David.
Well, and I took full responsibility for it, obviously, that’s what you do. I also thought it was funny because the people walked away. I was like, wait, you don’t want to pet him anymore? He’s no longer loveable to you? Awww, boo. You know what I mean, only if it’s your own kids, they can do no wrong.
Other people are, like, “That’s the cutest dog ever.” – Blaaagh…!! – “Oh my god, that dog is disgusting!” Such a fine line between fantastic and gross! It’s funny… there’s a George Carlin joke in there somewhere…
Charlie’s Secret
Excerpt from the interview with Jennifer Spence (Ferreira Fest 51)
“Louis has these two incredible dogs. One is named Charlie, he’s huge, I think he’s a doodle. He’s a mix, he’s a huge dog, and Peter Kelamis used to joke around that he was such a big enormous, hairy, crazy creature that he just expected someone to unzip out of the dog. He expected the dog to unzip himself and a man walk out. Because this dog was that big and crazy. So yeah, so Charlie was one of the dogs and Giancarlo who’s this other little mix. He looks exactly like his name…
He would walk these dogs around the lot and I remember one time we were running lines, we had the, you know, one of our many scenes where Lisa’s asking Young for permission to do something. And, so we were running these lines and so we got in one of the studio golf carts because on those stages, those studio sets, they’re you know, one stage can be quite far away from another. So often there’ll be a golf cart on the studio lot, so you can get from one to another and not have to walk.
So, we would get on this golf cart and we’d do loops around the studio lot just running lines with the two dogs running behind us and that’s their daily exercise. So that was fun, we’d do that kind of thing. But I remember, anyway, on this lot another time he was walking the two dogs. And, one of them had pooped and being a good dog owner he picked up the poop in a bag. And, um, just threw it over the side of the fence that was surrounding the lot.
And I guess it landed on somebody on the other side, like a pedestrian that was just walking along on the other side. And so, I don’t know if he thought there was a dumpster on the other side or if he was just hoping that it would land on the grass because it was a biodegradable bag. But yeah, it was pretty funny. So he got in a little bit of trouble for that.”
Riding Charlie
Contributed by Patrick Gilmore, regarding a photograph in Charlie’s Friends’ album (see below).
PG – I remember that moment because I was so jealous that I couldn’t do that. Because I’ve always wanted to jump on Charlie’s back and ride off, you know, into the sunset.
FF – He was just the most incredibly huge dog.
PG – Oh, but just the sweetest, he would kind of just stand there and let this little beautiful child climb all over him. Wonderful.
Muddy Charlie
contributed by Casey
A gentle giant with a mischievous sense of humor—that was my impression of Charlie the first time I met him.
I remember his fur was silky soft and squeaky clean from a very recent bath. Louis and Sawyer had taken the pups for a romp on the beach where Charlie had gleefully coated himself from nose to paw with mud, earning himself a fresh bath. But apparently, that hadn’t been enough fun for Charlie for one day, so he’d slurped up a bunch of sea water and, right after Louis had gotten everyone cleaned up and tucked away in the back of the car, he’d promptly thrown up all over Willow.
All I know is, in addition to looking clean and sharp, Charlie looked quite pleased with himself as Louis told that story. And his tongue was lolling sort of as if he’d thought about trying not to laugh, but decided against it.
My favorite memory of Charlie is of him dancing with Louis on a summer evening. Louis had turned on some music and then called out to each of the dogs to dance along with him. It was so sweet, seeing the gentle giant dancing along with the smaller dogs, with that big grin on his face, and his large, soft, adoring eyes looking up at Louis from beneath those shaggy bangs.
When I think of Charlie, that’s how I see him.
Patient Charlie
contributed by Bea
One of my favorite Charlie memories is from when I was playing with the dogs in the backyard. I tossed a squishy ball and Charlie, Giancarlo and Billie went chasing after it. Alas, the ball went into the pool and Giancarlo and Billie went nuts, barking and whining. Charlie just stood there, watching the ball slowly drifting along in the gentle currents of the pool. I watched him stand there like a statue, his full attention on the toy, every muscle in his body wound as tightly as a spring. And as soon as the ball came within reach he snatched it, prancing off triumphantly with the other dogs in hot pursuit.
Good things come to those who wait. Charlie taught me that right there.
Travelin’ Charlie
contributed by Troy Mundle
I just remember him as being this big, giant, calm sweetheart. I really liked him, and I thought the Charlie / Billie dynamic was quite cute. He definitely loved to have his ears and head rubbed. But my memories of him are of course during our road trip from LA to Vancouver. I can’t get over how calm he was while driving. My dog (doberman – back in the day) was anything but calm in a vehicle!
Got any memories or photos of Charlie you’d like to share? Send an Email!
Charlie’s Portraits
Charlie And His Pals
Moments with Billie, Giancarlo, Willow and others
Charlie And His Family
Charlie And His Friends
Original Charlie Artwork
Watercolor Painting by Deb Slay
Oil Painting by Jeff Praise
Photography by Asja Šabanac
Photograph by David DeLuise
A Charlie Video
Charlie and Billie: A Lesson on Sharing
Goldendoodles
Here you will find more information about Charlie’s breed, the Goldendoodle.
https://goldendoodles.com/home.htm
https://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/goldendoodle
Looking to adopt a Goldendoodle?
Please contact your local animal shelters and animal rescue organizations. So many dogs are in need of a loving home and caring guardians. If you decide to purchase a puppy please make sure you’re dealing with a responsible, humane breeder.
Charlie says THANK YOU.
