Jimmy (raven)

He first appeared in You Can't Take It with You in 1938. Director Frank Capra would then cast the bird in every subsequent movie he made. Among his roles were Uncle Billy's pet, seen in the Building & Loan in It's a Wonderful Life (1946),{{cite book|last1=Poague|first1=Leland|title=Another Frank Capra|date=November 24, 2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521389785|page=222}} and the crow that landed on the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Jimmy belonged to Hollywood animal trainer Curly Twiford, who found the bird in a nest in the Mojave Desert in 1934. Twiford trained Jimmy to do an assortment of tricks, such as typing and opening letters. He could even ride a tiny motorcycle. These talents would make him appealing to use in films. Jimmy could understand several hundred words, though only around 50 were what Twiford called "useful". It took Jimmy a week to learn a new useful word, two weeks if it had two syllables. Twiford said that Jimmy could perform any task possible for an 8-year-old child.{{cite news|title=Jim, The Raven, In New Flicker|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-news/170423059/|accessdate=16 August 2014|work=The Evening News|location=Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|date=December 31, 1948|page=12}}

His human co-stars were complimentary of the bird. "When they call Jimmy, we both answer," remarked Jimmy Stewart on the set of It's a Wonderful Life, noting that the raven "is the smartest actor on the set" requiring fewer re-takes than his human counterparts.{{cite news|last1=Driscoll|first1=Charles|title=New York, Day By Day|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-coshocton-tribune/170423077/|accessdate=16 August 2014|work=The Coshocton Tribune|date=June 29, 1938|location=Coshocton, Ohio|page=8}}

After he had become more popular with the studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had Jimmy insured for $10,000.{{cite news|title=Movie Wildlife has Big Part In Indiana Picture|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kokomo-tribune/170423097/|accessdate=16 August 2014|work=The Kokomo Tribune|date=January 7, 1950|location=Kokomo, Indiana)|page=10}} Lloyd's of London wrote a policy to cover Jimmy's $500 a week fee as well as Curly Twiford's $200 handler fee, in the event Jimmy forgot any of the words he would need on the set.{{cite news|last1=Clary|first1=Patricia|title=Hollywood Film Shop|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-herald/170423121/|accessdate=19 August 2014|work=The Daily Republican|publisher=United Press|date=November 18, 1948|location=Monongahela, PA|page=6}} Twiford credited these fees with keeping him solvent during World War II.{{cite news|last1=Todd|first1=John|title=Around Hollywood|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-castle-news/170423142/|accessdate=16 August 2014|publisher=New Castle News|date=April 7, 1947|page=5}} At one point, Jimmy had 21 "stand-ins", 15 of which were female, who would fill in for him when the scene did not require any tricks or movement.{{cite news|title=Ravin' Raven|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-salt-lake-tribune/170423160/|accessdate=16 August 2014|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=Sep 6, 1946|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|page=15}}

Jimmy received a Red Cross gold medal in acknowledgement of 200 hours spent entertaining veterans after the war, and his footprints were enshrined in cement at a large Los Angeles pet store, alongside those of Lassie and other Hollywood animal stars.{{cite news|last1=Allen|first1=Gacie|title=Gracie Allen Says|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-bernardino-county-sun/170423176/|accessdate=17 August 2014|work=The San Bernardino County Sun|date=January 29, 1949|page=20}}

Jimmy's last-credited film was 3 Ring Circus in 1954, after which little is known about him.{{Cite web |date=2019-02-24 |title=The bird who deserved an Oscar |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-bird-who-deserved-an-oscar |access-date=25 March 2022 |website=Washington Examiner |language=en}} Curly Twiford said that Jimmy would "probably live to be 150" years old, which the papers re-printed. In reality, ravens seldom live more than 30 years in captivity.{{cite web|title=ASCAR's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Crows and Ravens|url=http://www.ascaronline.org/crowfaq.htm|website=ASCAR Online|accessdate=19 August 2014|archive-date=19 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819201203/http://www.ascaronline.org/crowfaq.htm|url-status=dead}} Curly Twiford died on April 5, 1956, at the age of 60.{{Cite archive |item=Curly Twiford portrait |collection=Valley Times Collection |institution=Los Angeles Public Library |item-url=https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/45980 |repository=Tessa: Digital Collections of the Los Angeles Public Library}}

• Bird intelligence
• Grip (raven)
• List of individual birds

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{IMDb name|1827306|Jimmy the "Crow"}}
• [http://mercurie.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/jimmy-raven-frank-capras-avian-star.html A Shroud of Thoughts: Jimmy the Raven: Frank Capra's Avian Star]
• [http://morethanyouneededtoknow.typepad.com/the_unsung_joe/2009/12/koko-the-raven.html The Unsung Joe: Koko the Raven] – one of Jimmy's most prominent stand-ins

{{animal actors}}

Category:Animal actors

Category:Individual perching birds

Category:Ravens

Category:1934 animal births

Category:1950s animal deaths

Category:Individual birds in the United States