How Tony winner Bill Berloni turns rescue dogs into stars of stage
CBSN
On a sprawling farm in Connecticut, Bill Berloni has spent nearly five decades turning rescue dogs into stars of stage and screen. The Tony Award-winning animal trainer has worked with between 200-300 dogs since 1976, all of them rescued from shelters.
"Someone told me they had cheap dogs at the animal shelter and I went looking one day," Berloni recalls of his first theatrical dog training experience. "I found this little dog who was gonna be put to sleep the next day, adopted him and that was the original production of "Annie" and that was the original Sandy."
That chance beginning launched a remarkable career. Berloni became the first trainer to feature a dog in a major role on Broadway, and remains the only animal trainer to receive a Tony Award for Excellence in Theater.
