5 famous feline film stars

28 August 2016 - 02:00 By SUE DE GROOT

Everybody loves cats. Now bring their furry cuteness to the screen THE FILM: Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)THE CAT: Audrey Hepburn played Holly Golightly in the film version of the Truman Capote novella, ably supported by Orangey, who played a put-upon cat called Cat. Orangey received his second Patsy award for this performance (his first was for playing the title role in 1951's Rhubarb).Patsy awards were Oscars for animals instituted by the American Humane Association in 1939 and awarded sporadically - mostly to dogs, mules, horses and chimps, with the odd seal thrown in - until 1986. In 2011 the society began awarding unofficial "Pawscars", also dominated by dogs.THE FILM: You Only Live Twice (1967)THE CAT: Solomon the snow-white Persian was so good in this that he got to play archvillain Blofeld's pet in another four Bond films. No matter which actor played Blofeld, Solomon was happy to sit for hours on his lap being stroked, according to interviews with various crew members, but he was also known to urinate on actors if subjected to a loud and unexpected noise. Cats can be prima donnas too.Solomon's character was spoofed in Mike Myers's Austin Powers comedies, where Dr Evil's bald feline companion was played by a sphynx cat called Ted Nude-Gent.THE FILM: Meet the Parents (2000)THE CAT: The role of Mr Jinx, pampered pet of a psychotic parent, was shared between two Himalayan cats named Bailey and Misha. It is not clear which one of them learnt to flush the toilet, but they both made Ben Stiller's on-screen life a misery.story_article_right1THE FILM: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)THE CAT: Where Harry had an owl, Ron a rat and Neville a toad, young witch Hermione Granger (played by Emma Watson) chose a cat to be her familiar. The cantankerous Crookshanks was played by a red Persian called Crackerjack, trained by Gwen Griffiths of Birds and Animals UK."There were maybe four Persians that played that part, but Crackerjack was one of the top cats to work with," Griffiths told The Telegraph. "I could take him on a job on his own, and I knew Crackerjack would always pull off the shot."THE FILM: Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)THE CAT: The Coen Brothers always pull it off, one way or another. This time they had some feline help. Ulysses was the name of the cat actor whose impassive stare injected a modicum of emotion into this otherwise mind-numbing meander through 1960s folk music...

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