Orangey

Orangey
	Orangey with Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Other name(s)	Jimmy; Jeremy; Rhubarb;
Species	Felis catus
Sex	Male
Born	Orangey Minerva; Unknown; United States
Died	Los Angeles, California, United States
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Actor
Notable role	Rhubarb; Neutron; Butch; Cleopatra;
Years active	1950s–1960s
Owner	Frank Inn
Awards	PATSY Award (1951, 1961)

Orangey, also known as Orangey Minerva (c. 1950–1967), was a male red domestic shorthair tabby cat,^[1] who was an animal actor owned and trained by the cinematic animal handler Frank Inn.^[2]^[3]

Career

Orangey (credited under various names) had a prolific career in film and television in the 1950s and early 1960s and was the only cat to win two PATSY Awards (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year, an animal actor's version of an Oscar), the first for the title role in Rhubarb (1951),^[4] a story about a cat who inherits a fortune, and the second for his portrayal of "Cat" in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).^[4] For this film Orangey won the 1962 PATSY Award for his portrayal of "the poor slob without a name." He has also been credited as the cat Mouschi in the film adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).^[1] In that film, he nearly reveals the Jews' hiding place, and later becomes its only escapee. The cat was credited as the family pet, "Butch," in the film The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), in which he is mistakenly assumed to have eaten the title character.

According to Sam Wasson, author of 5th Avenue, 5AM: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman, Inn said Orangey was "a real New York type cat, just what we want. In no time at all I'm going to make a method, or Lee Strasberg type, cat out of him."^[4]

Orangey was called "the world's meanest cat" by one studio executive. He often scratched and bit actors. But he was prized for his ability to stay for several hours. Sometimes, however, he would flee after filming some scenes and production would be shut down until he could be found. Inn would sometimes have to post guard dogs at the studio entrance to keep him from running away.^[3]

Other appearances included a regular role as "Minerva" on the television series Our Miss Brooks (1952–1958).

The cat was also credited as "Jimmy," "Jeremy," and "Rhubarb."^[5] Orangey's last known appearance came in two consecutive episodes in the TV series Batman in 1967-68 in which he played an uncredited role alongside Eartha Kitt who portrayed Catwoman.

Sofia Bohdanowicz's 2020 short documentary film The Hardest Working Cat in Show Biz, based on Dan Sallitt’s essay of the same name, explores Orangey's history, mythology, and rumors that the name "Orangey" was ascribed to several different cats as opposed to one single cat.^[6]^[7]

Death

Orangey died in 1967 and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), located in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

List of film credits
Title	Year	Role	Notes
Rhubarb	1951	Rhubarb	Uncredited, one of 14 cats in the role
This Island Earth	1955	Neutron	Uncredited
The Incredible Shrinking Man	1957	Butch	Uncredited
The Matchmaker	1958	Himself - a Cat (as Rhubarb)
The Diary of Anne Frank	1959	Mouschi	Uncredited
Visit to a Small Planet	1960	Clementine	Uncredited
Breakfast at Tiffany's	1961	Cat	Frank Inn also credited
Gigot	1962		Uncredited
The Comedy of Terrors	1964	Cleopatra	credited as Rhubarb
Village of the Giants	1965	Giant Cat	Uncredited

Television

Our Miss Brooks (1952–1958) as Minerva (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (January 22, 1956) (Season 1 Episode 17: "The Older Sister") as Cat (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (December 22, 1957) (Season 3 Episode 12: "Miss Paisley's Cat") as Stanley the cat (uncredited)
Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958) as The Cat
The Dick Van Dyke Show (1962) as Mr. Henderson
The Beverly Hillbillies (1963) as Rusty, Cat
My Favorite Martian (1963–1964) as Herbie, Max the Cat, Cat on Footpath
Mission Impossible ("The Seal", 1967) as IMF agent Rusty the cat(uncredited)
Batman (1967–1968) as Cat