By Michaela Gordoni
The LASSIE series’ Joey D. Vieira died April 7, just a few minutes before his 81st birthday.
The wife of his co-star Jon Provost, Laurie Jacobson Provost, said, “I have known him nearly 30 years. We were in touch with Joey and his kids all these years. We spoke to Joey weekly during his long hospital stay. His daughter, Shanyn, let us know when he entered hospice, which barely lasted 24 hours.”
He passed just before midnight on April 7. Just “8 minutes shy of his birthday,” Laurie said. Shanyn called them the next morning with the news, per Fox News Digital.
“The LASSIE family is very close,” Laurie said.
Jon gave him a tribute on Facebook last week: “What a h*** of a week it’s been. An original LASSIE cast member, Joey Vieira, ‘Porky,’ passed last night. I received a call from his daughter Shanyn that he entered hospice a couple days ago.”
He said, “I met Joey when I was seven years old, when I started LASSIE, we hit it off and remain friends forever. Joey was a great guy, a talented actor and even a successful record producer. Joey has joined his son Beau in heaven.” Beau died of cancer in 2023.
Jon added several photos of the two of them to his post.
Vieira’s cause of death is unknown, but the actor had recently been hospitalized for some time, per Men’s Journal.
The actor was 10 when he auditioned for LASSIE. He stayed on the show from 1954 to 1957, starring as Sylvester “Porky” Brockway, a farm kid with a border collie. Altogether, he starred in 91 episodes.
After LASSIE, Vieira starred in MY THREE SONS and SHIRLEY TEMPLE’S STORYBOOK. He later made appearances in BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE, FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, THE PATRIOT, EVEL KNIEVEL, FREE ENTERPRISE and MARRIED…WITH CHILDREN.
Another child actor, Jay North, who played Dennis in DENNIS THE MENACE from 1959 to 1963, died just the day before Viera, April 6, after fighting cancer.
Laurie also broke the news to the public.
“As many of his fans know, he had a difficult journey in Hollywood and after…but he did not let it define his life,” she wrote on Facebook. “He had a heart as big as a mountain, loved his friends deeply. He called us frequently and ended every conversation with ‘I love you with all my heart.’ And we loved him with all of ours.”
Please pray for these actors’ grieving families and friends.
Read Next: Alan Young, Wilbur on ‘Mister Ed,’ Has Died at 96
- Content: +4Share:
- Content: +2