Uggie, the adorable Jack Russell dog who shot to fame in the 2011 Oscar-winning movie The Artist, has died.
The 13-year-old pooch, who also starred in Reese Witherspoon‘s Water For Elephants, was put to sleep on Friday, Aug. 7, following a battle against a prostate illness, TMZ reports.
Uggie was owned by animal trainer Oscar Von Muller. He won the Palm Dog Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for his impressive stunt work in The Artist, and became the first pooch to have his paw prints set in stone on Hollywood’s infamous Walk of Fame.
Von Muller told the outlet the decision to have his beloved pet put down was tough, but he had started to suffer from the prostate tumor. Sarah Clifford, who helped train Uggie for his role in The Artist, told the outlet, “I will forever hold him dearly in my heart and never forget his infinite love for chicken and hotdogs.”
Uggie, who wore an 18 carat gold and satin bowtie for his 2012 Oscars appearance, retired after his career-defining moment, as he was suffering from a mysterious neurological condition.
“It comes and goes,” trainer Von Muller told the Daily Mail at the time. “It is a shame this has happened when he is getting the biggest success of his career, but we feel the best thing to do is to retire him after the Oscars.”
Director Michel Hazanavicius added to Reuters that his flick would “never have been the same movie without the dog.”
