Arnold the Piggy

Arnold the Piggy was in fact four different pigs who played Arnold Ziffel (aka Arnold the Pig) in the 6 seasons of the TV series Green Acres, from 1965 to 1971. The first Arnold the Piggy was a male pig, the next three were female (sows). The character Arnold Ziffel was always portrayed as male. This gender identity never bothered Arnold the Piggy who knew s/he was in fact the true star of the show anyway and was so versatile s/he could also play a dog (and bark like one) and a cat (and meow) among other animals, as well as get into character as a completely different pig with an accent of a different oink. Arnold, in the episodes he was in, got more oink lines than any of his co-stars, and frequently out-talked the other characters, and could improvise and also ad lib better than the other performers. Indeed most of the characters in the show became frustrated or envious when Arnold had the last word and showed them what he could do. In addition to eloquent verbal jousting, visual comedy was also his forte, and he showed he could do everything a human could do and more, and make it funny to boot. He was able to do touching and passionate love scenes, action packed thriller and adventure shows, and act more range of emotions and drama than the greatest (pig) stars before him or since. Outside of his television appearances, he even acted on stage in Gregory Bertram Shaw's "Pigmalion", where he played the title character. A born natural actor, Arnold the Piggy's talent and performances in Green Acres won him an Emmy for "Best performance by an animal", and three Patsy awards, the animal kingdom's Oscar. Because of this and because he/she knew she/he was a star, he/she had her/his own personal makeup artist, hairdresser, costume designer, groomer, and bather, and wore a different outfit in every show, almost as many as co-star Eva Gabor. Arnold the Piggy (or as he was more affectionately known, simply Arnold, for if you said that name we all knew you were talking about everyone's favorite pig on Green Acres) was loved by fans around the world, as well as his co-stars and the crew of the show, and he will be sorely missed. But his performances on that hayseed show have been preserved and run continuously in reruns now, for generations to come to enjoy, cry, laugh, and root for their favorite star, the one (or four) and only Arnold the Pig.