Famous people really are just like us! And they always have been. Whether vintage actors or athletes or poets: They love their dogs.
Natalie Wood and her silver poodle Morningstar, at home in Beverly Hills in 1960.
Photo by Allan Grant/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation.
Gertrude Stein, right, and Alice B. Toklas walked their poodle, Baskets, in the French village of Culoz after the end of German occupation, 1945.
Photo by Carl Mydans/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation.
Baseball star Willie Mays walked with his poodle at the San Francisco airport, after his Giants left New York and moved west in 1958.
Photo by Nat Farbman/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation.
In 1956, Jayne Mansfield pondered the eternal question: why not just play with your dog?
Photo by Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation.
Alfred Hitchcock, at home with his Sealyham terrier Mr. Jenkins in 1939, offered a title for this photo: “A Dislike of American Fireplaces.”
Photo by Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation.
Steve McQueen was woken by his malamute during a hunting trip in the Sierra Madre Mountains, 1963.
Photo by John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation
Frank Sinatra checked in on Ringo in Palm Springs, 1965.
Photo by John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation
Jimmy Stewart once read a poem about his dog on The Tonight Show.
Photo by Rex Hardy/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation
Actress Bette Davis and her dog were wheeled about in her Beverly Hills backyard, 1939.
Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation
On this journey on a less-traveled road, poet Robert Frost chose not to walk alone.
Photo by Eric Schaal/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation
