Despite his large career as a movie and commercials actor, Uggie was not acclaimed as a big star until his role in "The Artist", the French silent movie that was the big winner of a 2012 Oscar Academy Award.
This eleven years old Jack Russell Terrier delighted everybody playing the role of the unconditional loyal dog of George Valentin, a silent movie superstar who saw his career shattered by the beginning of the talking films era.
His performance was highly praised by both the public and critics, who considered Uggie to be on the same level as his human co-stars and promoted the idea of an Oscar for Best Non-Human actor. The Facebook campaign "Consider Uggie" gathered support for his Oscar nomination. Uggie's exceptional body-language skills allowed him to win the Palm dog Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for his performance in The Artist. Even though some critics blamed the pooch for stealing the scene, he certainly contributed to the success of the film, which won three Golden Globes, seven of its twelve BAFTASs nominations, five Oscar, six Cesars and earned more than $130 million since its release. Uggie had to make a space in his busy agenda to attended 2012 Oscars Awards Ceremony, where he shared the scene with the cast of his multi-awarded movie. For this special occasion, he wore a leather collar with an 18-carat yellow gold bone with his name engraved on it, designed by Swiss jeweler Chopard.
Uggie's trainer, Omar Van Muller, affirmed that he is not surprised by the performance of his four-legged partner. Due to his extraordinary talent and vast experience, Uggie already knew most of the tricks he had to perform in the movie, which allowed the director to introduce some upgrades. For example, it was written in the script that "the dog was dead", but Uggie knew how to make the scene more dramatic by walking backwards before playing dead, so the director decided to include this in the film. Like many movie stars, Uggie has a turbulent past. He was abandoned twice by his owners because he was very active and axious. Right before he was sent to a dog shelter, he was adopted by Van Muller who started training him together with his six other dogs that also work in the film industry. According to Van Muller, Uggie's energetic spirit, which caused his bad reputation and rejection in the past, is an asset for his acting career. He is very smart, willing to work, and audacious, so he is never afraid or shy on the movie or TV set. He also is a great skater as he has shown on "The Incredible Dog Show" and with Ellen Degeneres's TV show.
His career includes commercials, TV shows, magazines, and movies. Among his filmography we can find minor roles in "What's Up Scarlett" (2005), "Wassup Rockers" (2005), and "Mr. Fix It" (2006). In 2011, his career took off when he played "Queenie" in "Water For The Elephants" co-starring with Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, as well as the character that made him famous, Jack, the adorable dog in "The Artist". In 2012, after his retirement, he appeared as himself on the film "The campaign". During the filming of "The Artist", Uggie started to experience some shaking as symptoms of a neurological illness that forced his retirement after he became the first dog to leave his paw prints outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Since then, he rests a lot and takes less intense jobs, such us a Nintendo DS Advertisement, and the campaign for PETA where he promoted animal adoption. You can follow Uggie on Facebook and Twitter.
