Lee Aaker, ‘Rin Tin Tin’ and ‘High Noon’ child star, dead at 77

Lee Aaker, a blonde, button-nosed staple of classic film and television throughout the 1950s, has died. He was 77.

Best-known for the classic boy-and-his-dog series “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin” which ran on ABC from 1954 to 1959, Aaker passed away earlier this month after a stroke in Mesa, Arizona, his friend and fellow former child star Paul Peterson confirmed via Facebook. “Saying Goodbye to Lee Aaker — you have to be a certain age to remember Rin Tin Tin,” Peterson, 75, wrote in his short but poignant post. “Lee Aaker passed away in Arizona on April 1st, alone and unclaimed … listed as an ‘indigent decedent.’ “