the spring and fall of 1960. Baby, son of Lassie Junior and brother to Spook, worked the show for six years. He appeared in the last Timmy years, and two of the Forest Service seasons. Baby died at just eight years of age, the only Lassie not to live at least seventeen years. He was followed in the role by Mire who played Lassie for five years. He portrayed the fictional collie in the syndicated seasons. Broadway star and quiz show panelist Jan Clayton was hired to play farm widow Ellen Miller with septuagenarian George Cleveland playing her father-in-law, George "Gramps" Miller. Child actor Tommy Rettig was hired to portray Ellen's eleven-year-old son Jeff Miller and Donald Keeler (the professional name used at the time by Joey D. Vieira) was cast as Jeff's friend, Sylvester "Porky" Brockway. Porky's basset hound Pokey became a recurring animal character through the first several seasons. In 1957, both Clayton and Rettig wanted to leave the show. Producers decided to find a new boy and ease the Miller family out of the show. Interviews with 200 boys were conducted and six-year-old film veteran Jon Provost was hired and made his début as Timmy in the fourth season opener, "The Runaway." In July 1957, George Cleveland died suddenly, and producers were forced to overhaul the entire show. The plot was extensively reworked, and Clayton and Rettig were completely dropped. Cloris Leachman and Jon Shepodd were quickly hired as Timmy's foster parents Ruth and Paul Martin. In the fourth season, George Chandler was hired to play Petrie Martin, Paul's uncle, but the character was later dropped. As fourth season shooting progressed, Leachman grew unhappy playing a somber farm woman, feuded on-set with co-workers and proved unpopular with viewers, which caused ratings to drop. When filming was completed for the 1957–58 season in February 1958, Wrather severed ties with producer Maxwell and dropped Leachman and Shepodd. Film veteran June Lockhart and Broadway stage star Hugh Reilly replaced Leachman and Sheppod as Ruth and Paul Martin at the top of the fifth season. Todd Ferrell played Timmy's friend Ralph "Boomer" Bates, a recurring character with his dog Mike, but both were dropped in 1959. Former Keystone Kop Andy Clyde, also a co-star of The Real McCoys, became a regular in 1959 as neighbor Cully Wilson. Guest stars during the Timmy years included "The Lone Ranger", baseball player Roy Campanella,